{"id":23395,"date":"2024-05-15T08:31:27","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T03:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=23395"},"modified":"2025-10-11T11:30:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T06:00:19","slug":"armoured-sailfin-catfish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/armoured-sailfin-catfish\/","title":{"rendered":"Armoured Sailfin Catfish"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>About Armoured Sailfin Catfish:\u00a0<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It is commonly referred to as the <strong>Rakashior devil fish.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Scientifically known as <strong>Pterygoplichthys<\/strong> and is an <strong>invasive species.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It possesses an uncanny ability to subsist on a diverse diet and can <strong>endure oxygen-deprived conditions<\/strong>. It can even navigate on land using its powerful fins.<\/li>\n<li>It was once introduced for its unique appearance and its ability to clean algal growth in tanks and aquaria.<\/li>\n<li>Out of the 14 species listed as invasive by the <strong>National Biodiversity Authority<\/strong> (NBA) of India, six were introduced solely for the ornamental fish trade.<\/li>\n<li>Among those six listed species, <strong>four belong to Pterygoplichthys,<\/strong> remarking it to be one of the most invasive genera of fish.<\/li>\n<li>It has garnered notoriety due to its <strong>lack of commercial value<\/strong>, formidable sharp spines, and robust body, which pose a threat to fishing nets and have even caused injuries to fishermen in some instances.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Impact on biodiversity:<\/strong> It is known to voraciously consume native fish species, jeopardizing the delicate aquatic ecosystem.<\/li>\n<li>Its population has grown exponentially and this was realised through a <strong>unique \u2018eDNA-based quantitative PCR assay\u2019<\/strong> developed by the institute scientists to map the presence and spread of such invasive species,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What is eDNA?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/e-dna\/\" target=\"_blank\">Environmental DNA (edna)<\/a> is <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/dna\/\" target=\"_blank\">DNA<\/a> shed by all <strong>organisms into their surroundings<\/strong> through natural processes during their lifetime or after death.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong> It originates from cellular material shed by organisms (via the skin, excrement, etc.) into aquatic or terrestrial environments that can be sampled and monitored using new molecular methods.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1: What is an invasive species?<\/h3>\n<p>Invasive species is a non-native organism (plant, animal, fungus, or microbe) that is introduced to a new environment, ecosystem, or habitat, where it spreads rapidly and causes harm to the local environment, economy, or human health.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/telangana\/ccmb-scientists-find-armoured-sailfin-catfish-has-spread-to-60-of-water-bodies-of-eastern-ghats\/article68161438.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CCMB scientists find armoured sailfin catfish has spread to 60% of water bodies of Eastern Ghats<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Armoured Sailfin Catfish is commonly referred to as the Rakashior devil fish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":23396,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}