Fishing For Aquatic Animal Diseases in Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Insights From Disease Surveillance
Description
Introduction
Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) are located in the South-eastern part of the Bay of Bengal, India. These islands are considered as significant biogeographic hotspots due to their unique and largely endemic flora and fauna. Fisheries serve as a major livelihood and employment sector in the ANI, supported by the diverse presence of freshwater, brackish water and marine ecosystems (Kiruba-Sankar et al., 2022). Aquatic animal diseases pose a significant risk and major constraint to the growth of the aquaculture sector. It is widely recognized that early detection and prompt response are crucial for the effective management of disease emergencies in aquaculture. ANI were previously believed to be relatively free from many fish and shellfish diseases compared to mainland India and neighbouring countries, likely due to limited research focus on aquatic animal diseases (Saravanan et al., 2017, 2020).
However, continuous monitoring and disease surveillance conducted by our research group have identified various diseases in the aquatic animals of ANI, contributing to sector development through timely detection and the implementation of recommended health management measures (Saravanan et al., 2024a). This article provides a snippet of our systematic study to underscore an array of aquatic animals diseases and their management in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.
Baseline data of freshwater fish farms
Our research group also spearheaded the systematic implementation and continuation of the National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD) in ANI, establishing molecular biology and microbiology laboratories at ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair. These laboratories are in compliance with proficiency and inter-laboratory comparison tests conducted periodically. Both passive and active surveillance have been conducted in the freshwater and marine ecosystems of ANI since 2015 to document the aquatic animal diseases. As part of passive disease surveillance, we collected the baseline information of 1174 freshwater fish farms located in ANI, including geo-referenced details, and submitted the data to national and state-level databases. This information would serve as foundational data for the planning and management of inland aquaculture (Chakurkar et al., 2022; Kiruba-Sankar et al., 2022).
Aquatic animal diseases reported from Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The surveillance of aquatic animal diseases in ANI led to the identification of the first reported cases of parasitic, viral, bacterial, fungal and environmental/ non-infectious diseases (Saravanan et al., 2024a). Parasitic diseases comprise of myxoboliasis, argulosis, lernaeasis, ich or white spot disease, dactylogyrosis, gyrodactylosis, copepod, nematode, cestode, isopod, acanthocephalan, barnacle, trematode, myxozoan and Piscinoodinium infestations (Saravanan et al., 2021, 2024a; Praveenraj et al., 2024a). Viral diseases include Lymphocystis Disease Virus (LCDV), White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV), Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHHNV) and Laem-Singh virus (LSNV) (Kumar et al., 2011; Praveenraj et al., 2024b; Saravanan et al., 2021).
Bacterial diseases encompass abdominal dropsy, Citrobacter infection, pop-eye and luminescent vibriosis (Chakurkar et al., 2021; Praveenraj et al., 2024c; Saravanan et al., 2024a). Fungal diseases comprise of Aphanomyces sp. and Achlya sp. infections (Saravanan et al., 2024a). Environmental/ non-infectious diseases include scoliosis, lordosis, pin head disease and water quality related issues (Saravanan et al., 2024a). Parasitic diseases are the most commonly reported among all the aquatic animal diseases in the freshwater and marine fishes of ANI, highlighting the significant impact of parasites on aquatic animal health in the island ecosystem. These findings helped in providing the appropriate health management related recommendations to the farmers and other stakeholders.
Capacity building programs
A skilled workforce is crucial for the development of island aquaculture. To support this, regular training and awareness programs are being organized for the benefit of stakeholders in the islands. These programs primarily focus on aquatic animal health management and are conducted for a range of stakeholders, including officials from the State Fisheries Department and local farmers (Saravanan et al., 2024a). Till now, more than 55 capacity building programs have been conducted on various aspects of aquaculture and fisheries, benefitting around 1500 participants.
Impact of the research outcomes
The research findings have significantly raised awareness among the stakeholders about the critical importance of implementing biosecurity and health management measures to advance the aquaculture sector in the Islands. This is demonstrated by documented success stories highlighting improved management practices in shrimp and ornamental fish farming in the ANI (Praveenraj et al., 2023; Saravanan et al., 2024b). Additionally, over 13 research publications and more than 21 extension publications have been produced on aquatic animal diseases and their management to benefit the stakeholders. These dedicated efforts also meet the international obligations by providing periodic updates through Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease (QAAD) reports specific to the ANI.
Acknowledgements
This work was conducted as part of the National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD), coordinated by ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), Lucknow. The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support provided to NSPAAD under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana by the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India. The authors also extend their gratitude to the Director, ICAR-CIARI for providing the essential support necessary to conduct this study.
References
Chakurkar, E.B., Sunder, J., Jerard, B.A., Bhattacharya, D., Ahmed, S.K.Z., Singh, P.K., Sankar, R.K., Waman, A.A., Saravanan, K., Alyethodi, R.R. (2021). ICAR-CIARI, Annual Report 2021. Director, ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair, pp. 1-141.
Chakurkar, E.B., Sunder, J., Jerard, B.A., Bhattacharya, D., Singh, P.K., Ahmed, S.K.Z., De, A.K., Saravanan, K., Bohra, P., Adamala, S. (2022). ICAR-CIARI, Annual report 2022. Director, ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair, p. 82.
Kiruba-Sankar, R., Saravanan, K., Haridas, H., Praveenraj, J., Biswas, U., Sarkar, R. (2022). Policy framework and development strategy for freshwater aquaculture sector in the light of COVID-19 impact in Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, India. Aquaculture, 548:737596.
Kumar, T.S., Krishnan, P., Makesh, M., Chaudhari, A., Purushothaman, C., Rajendran, K. (2011). Natural host-range and experimental transmission of Laem-Singh virus (LSNV). Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 96:21-27.
Praveenraj, J., Saravanan, K., Kiruba-Sankar, R., Karunakaran, D., Zamir Ahmed, S K. (2023). Success story on adoption of best management practices in ornamental fish business at Port Blair, South Andaman. https://ciari.icar.gov.in/ss33.html. (Accessed on 18.04.2024).
Praveenraj, J., Uma, A., Saravanan, K., Ahilan, B., Gopalakannan, A., Manikandavelu, D., Kiruba-Sankar, R., Kumar, G. (2024a). Characterization of Piscinoodinium sp. associated with epizootics and mortality in non-native and endemic freshwater fish of the Andaman Islands, India. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 160:19-24.
Praveenraj, J., Saravanan, K., Srinath, R., Uma, A., Kiruba-Sankar, R. (2024b). Molecular characterization of lymphocystis disease virus in Indian glass fish: first report from the Andaman Islands. Archives of Virology, 169: 136.
Praveenraj, J., Saravanan, K., Uma, A., Kiruba-Sankar, R., Ahilan, B., Gopalakannan, A., Manikandavelu, D. (2024c). First Report of Two Bacterial Diseases from the Freshwater Fishes of the Andaman Islands, India. Indian Journal of Animal Research, 58(8): 1333-1339.
Saravanan, K., Kumar, P.P., Praveenraj, J., Baruah, A., Sivaramakrishnan, T., Kumar, T.S., Kumar, S.P., Sankar, R.K., Roy, S.D. (2017). Investigation and confirmation of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection in wild caught penaeid shrimps of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. VirusDisease, 28:368-372.
Saravanan, K., Kumar, S., Praveenraj, J., Meena, B.L., Kasinath, B.L. (2020). Molecular characterization of muscle infecting Myxobolus sp. causing outbreak in Labeo rohita, rohu: First report from Andaman Islands. Indian Journal of Animal Research, 55(2):211-216.
Saravanan, K., Praveenraj, J., Kiruba-Sankar, R., Devi, V., Biswas, U., Kumar, T.S., Sudhagar, A., El-Matbouli, M., Kumar, G. (2021). Co-infection of Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHHNV) and White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) in the wild crustaceans of Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago, India. Viruses, 13:1378.
Saravanan, K., Praveenraj, J., Kiruba-Sankar, R., Biswas, U., Sarkar, R., Haridas, H., Qureshi, N.W. (2024a). Aquatic animal diseases with awareness and perception of freshwater fish farmers on aquatic animal health management practices in the tropical archipelago of India. Biologia, 79: 823-840.
Saravanan, K., Praveenraj, J., Kiruba Sankar, R., Raul, C., Zamir Ahmed, S.K., Ramakrishna, Y., (2024b). Interventions on better management practices towards the establishment of successful young aquapreneurs in shrimp culture at South Andaman. https://ciari.icar.gov.in/ss34.html and https://icar.org.in/establishing-successful-young-aquapreneurs-shrimp-through-interventions-better-management-practices (Accessed on 18.04.2024).
K. Saravanan, J. Praveenraj and R. Kiruba Sankar
ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair - 744105, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) are located in the South-eastern part of the Bay of Bengal, India. These islands are considered as significant biogeographic hotspots due to their unique and largely endemic flora and fauna. Fisheries serve as a major livelihood and employment sector in the ANI, supported by the diverse presence of freshwater, brackish water and marine ecosystems (Kiruba-Sankar et al., 2022). Aquatic animal diseases pose a significant risk and major constraint to the growth of the aquaculture sector. It is widely recognized that early detection and prompt response are crucial for the effective management of disease emergencies in aquaculture. ANI were previously believed to be relatively free from many fish and shellfish diseases compared to mainland India and neighbouring countries, likely due to limited research focus on aquatic animal diseases (Saravanan et al., 2017, 2020).
However, continuous monitoring and disease surveillance conducted by our research group have identified various diseases in the aquatic animals of ANI, contributing to sector development through timely detection and the implementation of recommended health management measures (Saravanan et al., 2024a). This article provides a snippet of our systematic study to underscore an array of aquatic animals diseases and their management in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.
Baseline data of freshwater fish farms
Our research group also spearheaded the systematic implementation and continuation of the National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD) in ANI, establishing molecular biology and microbiology laboratories at ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair. These laboratories are in compliance with proficiency and inter-laboratory comparison tests conducted periodically. Both passive and active surveillance have been conducted in the freshwater and marine ecosystems of ANI since 2015 to document the aquatic animal diseases. As part of passive disease surveillance, we collected the baseline information of 1174 freshwater fish farms located in ANI, including geo-referenced details, and submitted the data to national and state-level databases. This information would serve as foundational data for the planning and management of inland aquaculture (Chakurkar et al., 2022; Kiruba-Sankar et al., 2022).
Aquatic animal diseases reported from Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The surveillance of aquatic animal diseases in ANI led to the identification of the first reported cases of parasitic, viral, bacterial, fungal and environmental/ non-infectious diseases (Saravanan et al., 2024a). Parasitic diseases comprise of myxoboliasis, argulosis, lernaeasis, ich or white spot disease, dactylogyrosis, gyrodactylosis, copepod, nematode, cestode, isopod, acanthocephalan, barnacle, trematode, myxozoan and Piscinoodinium infestations (Saravanan et al., 2021, 2024a; Praveenraj et al., 2024a). Viral diseases include Lymphocystis Disease Virus (LCDV), White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV), Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHHNV) and Laem-Singh virus (LSNV) (Kumar et al., 2011; Praveenraj et al., 2024b; Saravanan et al., 2021).
Bacterial diseases encompass abdominal dropsy, Citrobacter infection, pop-eye and luminescent vibriosis (Chakurkar et al., 2021; Praveenraj et al., 2024c; Saravanan et al., 2024a). Fungal diseases comprise of Aphanomyces sp. and Achlya sp. infections (Saravanan et al., 2024a). Environmental/ non-infectious diseases include scoliosis, lordosis, pin head disease and water quality related issues (Saravanan et al., 2024a). Parasitic diseases are the most commonly reported among all the aquatic animal diseases in the freshwater and marine fishes of ANI, highlighting the significant impact of parasites on aquatic animal health in the island ecosystem. These findings helped in providing the appropriate health management related recommendations to the farmers and other stakeholders.
Capacity building programs
A skilled workforce is crucial for the development of island aquaculture. To support this, regular training and awareness programs are being organized for the benefit of stakeholders in the islands. These programs primarily focus on aquatic animal health management and are conducted for a range of stakeholders, including officials from the State Fisheries Department and local farmers (Saravanan et al., 2024a). Till now, more than 55 capacity building programs have been conducted on various aspects of aquaculture and fisheries, benefitting around 1500 participants.
Impact of the research outcomes
The research findings have significantly raised awareness among the stakeholders about the critical importance of implementing biosecurity and health management measures to advance the aquaculture sector in the Islands. This is demonstrated by documented success stories highlighting improved management practices in shrimp and ornamental fish farming in the ANI (Praveenraj et al., 2023; Saravanan et al., 2024b). Additionally, over 13 research publications and more than 21 extension publications have been produced on aquatic animal diseases and their management to benefit the stakeholders. These dedicated efforts also meet the international obligations by providing periodic updates through Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease (QAAD) reports specific to the ANI.
Acknowledgements
This work was conducted as part of the National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD), coordinated by ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), Lucknow. The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support provided to NSPAAD under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana by the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India. The authors also extend their gratitude to the Director, ICAR-CIARI for providing the essential support necessary to conduct this study.
References
Chakurkar, E.B., Sunder, J., Jerard, B.A., Bhattacharya, D., Ahmed, S.K.Z., Singh, P.K., Sankar, R.K., Waman, A.A., Saravanan, K., Alyethodi, R.R. (2021). ICAR-CIARI, Annual Report 2021. Director, ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair, pp. 1-141.
Chakurkar, E.B., Sunder, J., Jerard, B.A., Bhattacharya, D., Singh, P.K., Ahmed, S.K.Z., De, A.K., Saravanan, K., Bohra, P., Adamala, S. (2022). ICAR-CIARI, Annual report 2022. Director, ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair, p. 82.
Kiruba-Sankar, R., Saravanan, K., Haridas, H., Praveenraj, J., Biswas, U., Sarkar, R. (2022). Policy framework and development strategy for freshwater aquaculture sector in the light of COVID-19 impact in Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, India. Aquaculture, 548:737596.
Kumar, T.S., Krishnan, P., Makesh, M., Chaudhari, A., Purushothaman, C., Rajendran, K. (2011). Natural host-range and experimental transmission of Laem-Singh virus (LSNV). Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 96:21-27.
Praveenraj, J., Saravanan, K., Kiruba-Sankar, R., Karunakaran, D., Zamir Ahmed, S K. (2023). Success story on adoption of best management practices in ornamental fish business at Port Blair, South Andaman. https://ciari.icar.gov.in/ss33.html. (Accessed on 18.04.2024).
Praveenraj, J., Uma, A., Saravanan, K., Ahilan, B., Gopalakannan, A., Manikandavelu, D., Kiruba-Sankar, R., Kumar, G. (2024a). Characterization of Piscinoodinium sp. associated with epizootics and mortality in non-native and endemic freshwater fish of the Andaman Islands, India. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 160:19-24.
Praveenraj, J., Saravanan, K., Srinath, R., Uma, A., Kiruba-Sankar, R. (2024b). Molecular characterization of lymphocystis disease virus in Indian glass fish: first report from the Andaman Islands. Archives of Virology, 169: 136.
Praveenraj, J., Saravanan, K., Uma, A., Kiruba-Sankar, R., Ahilan, B., Gopalakannan, A., Manikandavelu, D. (2024c). First Report of Two Bacterial Diseases from the Freshwater Fishes of the Andaman Islands, India. Indian Journal of Animal Research, 58(8): 1333-1339.
Saravanan, K., Kumar, P.P., Praveenraj, J., Baruah, A., Sivaramakrishnan, T., Kumar, T.S., Kumar, S.P., Sankar, R.K., Roy, S.D. (2017). Investigation and confirmation of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection in wild caught penaeid shrimps of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. VirusDisease, 28:368-372.
Saravanan, K., Kumar, S., Praveenraj, J., Meena, B.L., Kasinath, B.L. (2020). Molecular characterization of muscle infecting Myxobolus sp. causing outbreak in Labeo rohita, rohu: First report from Andaman Islands. Indian Journal of Animal Research, 55(2):211-216.
Saravanan, K., Praveenraj, J., Kiruba-Sankar, R., Devi, V., Biswas, U., Kumar, T.S., Sudhagar, A., El-Matbouli, M., Kumar, G. (2021). Co-infection of Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHHNV) and White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) in the wild crustaceans of Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago, India. Viruses, 13:1378.
Saravanan, K., Praveenraj, J., Kiruba-Sankar, R., Biswas, U., Sarkar, R., Haridas, H., Qureshi, N.W. (2024a). Aquatic animal diseases with awareness and perception of freshwater fish farmers on aquatic animal health management practices in the tropical archipelago of India. Biologia, 79: 823-840.
Saravanan, K., Praveenraj, J., Kiruba Sankar, R., Raul, C., Zamir Ahmed, S.K., Ramakrishna, Y., (2024b). Interventions on better management practices towards the establishment of successful young aquapreneurs in shrimp culture at South Andaman. https://ciari.icar.gov.in/ss34.html and https://icar.org.in/establishing-successful-young-aquapreneurs-shrimp-through-interventions-better-management-practices (Accessed on 18.04.2024).
K. Saravanan, J. Praveenraj and R. Kiruba Sankar
ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair - 744105, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Open Access
Filling the gap between research and communication ARCC provide Open Access of all journals which empower research community in all the ways which is accessible to all.
Products and Services
We provide prime quality of services to assist you select right product of your requirement.
Support and Policies
Finest policies are designed to ensure world class support to our authors, members and readers. Our efficient team provides best possible support for you.
