Chitala knife fish UPSC

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Context

Union Minister for Fisheries, Livestock, and Dairying announced that river ranching of Chitala will be carried out to increase its population in natural water sources like the Ganga.

Chitala

Chitala is a knife fish from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, found in the Brahmaputra, Indus, Ganges, and Mahanadi River basins.
It is sometimes known as the Indian featherback or Indian knifefish.
chitala reaches a maximum length of 122 cm but more commonly reaches about 75 cm.
It is overall silvery in colour. Unlike all its relatives, it usually has a series of golden or silvery bars along the back, resulting in a faint striped appearance.
Additionally, it has a series of fairly small, sometimes indistinct, non-ocellated dark spots towards the far rear of the body (at the "tail").

RIVER RANCHING

River Ranching is a form of aquaculture in which a population of a fish species (such as salmon) is held in captivity for the first stage of their lives. They are then released, and later harvested as adults when they return from the sea to their freshwater birthplace to spawn.

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q. Which of the following best describes River Ranching?

1.It involves the selective breeding of fish for human consumption and commercial purposes.

2.It involves the provision of the by-products (including wastes) from one aquatic species as input (food or fertilizer) for another aquatic species.

3.In this, a population of a fish species is held in captivity for the first stage of their lives and they are then released, and later harvested as adults when they return from the sea to their freshwater birthplace to spawn.

4.In this fast-growing compatible species of fish with different feeding habits are cultured together.

Answer: 3