Airsac catfish (Heteropneustes microps)

Species information

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Threats

Agriculture in Sri Lanka, such as tea, vegetable and tobacco cultivation, is often heavily dependent on fertilisers. The chemicals used in agriculture are washed by rains into the surrounding waterways and are impacting the habitat of the airsac catfish (3). The restricted distribution of the airsac catfish makes it particularly vulnerable to the effects of any threats such as pollution, as every individual in the population may be rapidly affected.

Conservation

There are no known conservation measures currently in place for the Vulnerable airsac catfish. It has been stated that overall, the native fish of Sri Lanka receive no protection whatsoever, and that there is so little monitoring, drastic declines in fish populations could go unnoticed. It has been recommended that the conservation strategy most likely to succeed for the freshwater fish of Sri Lanka is the maintenance of captive populations. These could then be reintroduced once the threats to the wild populations had been controlled (3). It has yet to be seen whether such actions will be taken.