United Nation Decad on 810dlv rs y STATE FAUNA S RIES 20 PART-l VERTEBRATES J ( \ u State Fauna Series, 20 FAUNA OF MAHARASHTRA (PART-I) VERTEBRATES Edited by The Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Zoological Survey of India Kolkata (ii) CITATION Editor-Director, 2012. Fauna ofMaharashtra, State Fauna Series, 20(Part-l) :1-480 (Published by the Director, Zoo I. Surv. India, Kolkata) Published : November, 2012 ISBN 978-81-8171-305-6 Project Co-ordinators Dr. Anil Mahabal, Scientist-F (Retd.) and Dr. R.M. Sharma, Scientist-D & Officer-in-charge © Govt. of India, 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED • No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. • This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade, be lent, re-sold hired out or otherwise disposed of without the publisher's consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. • The correct price of this publication is the price printed on this page. Any revised price indicated by a rubber stamp or by a sticker or by any other means is incorrect and should be unacceptable. PRICE India : ~1,9001 Foreign : $ 105; £ 75 Published at the Publication Division by the Director, Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata-700 053 and printed at Calcutta Repro Graphics, Kolkata-700 006. STATE FAUNA SERIES FAUNA OF MAHARASHTRA No. 20 (Part-I) 2012 1-480 CONTENTS AN OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................... 1-19 Anil Mahabal and R.M. Sharma MAMMALIA ................................................................................................................................ 21-145 M.S. Pradhan and S.S. Talmale AVES ............................... 147-188 ! ........................................................................................................... Anil Mahabal, Satish Pande, Pranav Pandit and Aditya Ponkshe RE~ILIA ................................................................................................................................... 189-238 Gouri Dasgupta, B.H.C.K. Murthy and Sujay Raba AMPHIBIA .................................................................................................................................. 239-246 A.D. Padhye and H.V. Ghate FRESHWATER FISlIES............................................................................................................ 247-367 A.K. Karmakar, B.E. Yadav, N. Bairagi, A. Das, P.K. Banerjee and S.S. Jadbav MARINE AND ESTUARINE FISlIES ..................................................................................... 369-480 R.P. Barman, S.S. Mishra, S. Kar, P. Mukherjee and S.C. Saren Zoo I. Surv. India Fauna of Maharashtra, State Fauna Series, 20(Part 1) : 1-19, 2012 AN OVERVIEW ANIL MAHABAL and R.M. SHARMA PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY solidification of basic magma, which came up through fissures. The basalts are composed of Area and Borders variety of minerals, particularly, Plagioclase, The state of Maharashtra lies between 15°32' Pyroxemes, Iron Oxides and some other to 22°02' N latitude and 72°36' to 80°54' E constituents. Structurally, the state is a part of the longitude and is the third largest state of the peninsular shield mainly covered with lava rocks country with an area of 3,07,714 sq km which dates back to 30 million years. The hill constituting 9.36% of India's total geographic area. ranges of Western Ghats were formed due to the The state is bounded by states of Gujarat and volcanic eruption which resulted in stratified union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli on horizontal layers. The Archaens. the Dharwars. the Cuddappah and the Vindhyan rocks are mostly northwest, Madhya Pradesh on north, Chhattisgarh on northeast, Andhra Pradesh in the east, found in eastern parts of Maharashtra, particularly in Chandrapur, Nagpur and Bhandara districts. The Kamataka and Goa on the south, and Arabian Sea Kaladyis with their sandstones and quartzite are on the west (Map-I). As per the 2011 census exposed in Kokan, particularly in Ratnagiri district. records the population of state is 11,23,72,972 with a density of 365 persons per sq km. In this The minerals found in the State are coal, iron ore, limestone, dolomite, bauxite, manganese, state 45.23% of people are living in Urban areas chromites, clay, copper, silica, sand. limenite, etc. whereas 54.77% are living in rural areas. River Basins Divisions The State is drained by two of its major river Administratively, the state is being divided into basins, Godavari and Krishna, which ultimately 6 regions, 35 districts (Map-I), 357 talukas, 336 meet the Bay of Bengal. The west flowing, Tapi cities and towns, and 40,412 inhabitated villages. river and its tributaries like Panjhra, Puma, Girna The capital of the state is Mumbai. The six drain into the Arabian sea. The river Narmada administrative regions of state are Kokan, Western flows on the northern border of Nandurbar district Maharashtra (traditionally Ghat matha, Maval and and meets the Arbian sea on the west. Similarly, Desh), Marathwada, Uttar Maharashtra (earlier Kokan streams such as, Vaitarna, Tansa, Khandesh), Amravati and Nagpur (earlier Damanganga. Ulhas, Savitri, Vashisthi, Shastri. Vidharbh). Again these regions are sub-divided Kundalika, etc. emerge from the Western Ghats further on the basis of physical, eco-cultural traits and join the Arabian sea. or combination of these. The Krishna river basin is formed by the rivers Geology and Minerals and their tributaries originating from Western The important geological feature of the State Ghats, namely, Sina, Kukdi, Indrayani, Pavana. is the basaltic plateau of the Deccan trap. The Mula-Mutha, Bhima, Ghod, Nira, Man, Bori, etc. basalt is a basic igneous rock resulting from join to form Bhima river in Western Maharashtra. 2 Fauna of Maharashtra, State Fauna Series, 20 which in tum meet the Krishna river in the State use and the remaining 21.2% is under non of Karnataka whereas Krishna, Koyna, Warna, agricultural and non-forest area. The actual forest Pachganga, Yerla rivers originating also from cover is 15.4% of state area of which about 10% Western Ghats, meet Krishna river in the State of is dense forest cover and the remaining 5.4% is Maharashtra. open tree cover. Only 0.04% of the state area has mangrove forest and about 2% area has scrub The Godavari river basin is formed by the forest. Only 40/0 of the State area is considered as rivers and their tributaries such as, Pravara, pastures and other grazing lands. The unclassified Godavari (originates from Western Ghats), tree crops and groves on non-forest land cover is Sindphana, Manjara, Manar (from Balaghat Range), Purana, Bhagwati, Dudhana (from Ajanta 2.7% whereas the fallow land cover is about 3.4% Range) of the Uttar Maharashtra and the of the State area (Pande, 2005). Extensive tracts Marathwada regions as well as the rivers like of thick forests are still present in the Amravati Painganga, Wardha, Pench, Wainganga, Indravati, and N agpur regions and some patches in the Pranhita from the Amravati and Nagpur regions Northern Western Ghats. in turns meets Godavari river partly in the State Forest Types of Maharashtra, partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh and partly on these State boundries. Based on the climatic and geographic factors particularly rainfall, temperature and altitude, Climate Indian region has been classified into four major Three prominent seasons viz. the monsoon, the vegetation zones, namely, Tropical, Sub-tropical, winter and the summer can be observed in the Temperate and Sub-Alpine as well as Alpine state. The monsoon lasts from mid-June to the Forests. Sixteen important forest types are end of September; winter from October to January identified in India (Champion and Seth 1968). Of and summer from February to mid-June. The these, the State possesses 6 forest types and 39 average annual rainfall in Kokan coastal area forest SUbtypes. Forest Research Institute (1999) ranges from 2000 to 2500 mm and in Western report also indicates six forest types in Maharashtra Ghats and hilly areas from 2000 to 5500 mm or (code is given in parenthesis). above. Many of the districts of Uttar and Western Maharashtra regions lies in the rain shadow of 1) Tropical semi-evergreen forests (code 2) : the Western Ghats and have a mean annual rainfall These types of forest are seen on high Sahydrian between 600 and 1200 mm. In Marathwada region, Plateaus like Mahabaleshwar, Matheran, the rainfall is less than 500 mm. The Amravati Bhimashankar, Amboli Ghat, etc. particularly in and Nagpur regions receive two monsoons such heavy rainfall areas. The principal tree species as, regular rainy season due to southwest monsoon inhabiting these forests are Jamun (Syzygium and winter monsoon received from Bay of Bengal cumini), Pisa (Actinodaphne hookeri), Anjani in eastern side. The average rainfall in these (Memecylon umbellarum, Hirda (Terminalia regions ranges between 500 and 1000 mm. The chebula) and Lanki (Olea diocia). mean temperature of the area ranges from is 16°C 2) Tropical moist-deciduous forests (code 3) : to 37°C depending upon seasons. The summer is These are found in Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, hot in Marathwada, Amravati and Nagpur regions Bhandara, Gondia and Amaravati districts in as compared to Kokan and Western Maharashtra Nagpur and Amravati regions of the Maharashtra regions. In winter northern part of the State is much colder than the southern part. State and also on the slopes of the Western Ghats spreading from Nandurbar, Dhule, Nashik, Thane Forests to Kolhapur districts. These types of forests In Maharashtra, 20.80/0 area is comprised of accounts for 170/0 of the total forest area of the forest land whereas 58% area is under agricultural State. Principal tree types are Teak (Tee/ona MAHABAL and SHARMA : An overview 3 grandis), Ain (Terminalia tomentosa) and Haldu 7 Forest Types and 41 Forest Subtypes from (Adina cordifolia). Maharashtra. 3) Littoral and swamp forests (code 4) : Littoral BIOGEOGRAPHY forests mostly include mangrove vegetation forming discontinuous narrow belts along the west The world is divided into six zoogeographical coast and creeks. The main tree species are regions, namely, Nearctic, Neotropical, Australian, A vicennia and Rhizophora. These trees are used Ethiopian, Palearctic and Oriental. The Indian sub for fuel and are also useful in preventing coastal continent alongwith South China, South East Asia, erosion. Swampy vegetation occurs along the Nonh West Indonesia and associated islands faJl coastal area of Kokan and in hill valley areas. into the Oriental Region. Rodgers and Panwar (1988) classified India's land area further into 10 4) Tropical dry-deciduous forests (code 5) : Biogeographic Zones such as, 1. Trans Himalaya, These forests occur in relatively low rainfall areas 2. Himalaya, 3. Indian Desert, 4. The Semi-arid having rainfall between 1000-1250 mm. These zone,S. Western Ghats, 6. Deccan Plateau forests occupy 62% of the total forest area of the (Penninsula), 7. Gangetic Plain, 8. Coasts, 9. State. Parts of Nagpur, Amravati and Uttar Islands and 10. North-East India. These zones are Maharashtra Regions and the eastern slopes of further sub-divided into 26 Biotic Provinces. This Western Ghats possess the tropical dry deciduous classification was done for systematic conservation forests. Teak (Tectona grandis), Tiwas (Ougeinia planning of biodiversity. Of these, 3 biogeographic dalbergioides), Khair (Acacia catechu), Shivan zones with 6 distinct biotic provinces (along with (Gmelina arboreal, Dhavda (Anogoissus latifolia) code) have been identified in the State of are the principal tree species in this type of forests. Maharashtra (Table-I). The Table 1 contains total 5) Tropical thorn forests (code 6) : These area under each province with their percentage of forests are found in fragments and discontinuous state area along with number of Protected Areas small pockets in the Deccan Plateau where rainfall (National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries) within is less than 500 mm. They are particularly seen in such provinces. The following are the details of Uttar and Western Maharashtra regions. The main each zone and province. tree species are Babul (Acacia arabica), Ber (Zizyphus jujuba) and Palas (Butea monosperlrUl). 1) 5 Western Ghats Zone 6) Sub-tropical broadleaved hill forests (code The Western Ghats is one of the major 8) : In this forest type one forest sub-type in Biogeographic Zone in India. It stretches from Western Sub-tropical hill forest is present along 22° N to 8° N latitude for nearly 1600 km covering the elevated ravines and crest line of Western an area of 1,60,000 sq km running parallel to the Ghats area particularly in area of Mahabaleshwar. West coast of peninsular part of India through the These forests are found between 1000 m and 1700 States of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Kamataka. m altitude. These forests are essentially without Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It has its evolutionary conifers. continuity for more than 85 million years and has Further in 2003, one additional Forest Subtype complex topography. range of microclimate and -West coast tropical evergreen forest (under the soil conditions resulting in a mosaic plant Forest Type, Wet evergreen forest, code I) was community and unique animal associations reported from Maharashtra particularly listed from (Lakshminarayana et al., 2001). In total 37.554 Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary. Another Forest sq km area of this zone comes under Maharashtra. Subtype, very moist teak forest has also been which accounts to 12.2% of total area of the State. reported from Sanjay Gandhi National Park and This zone is further divided into two Biotic from both Phansad and Tansa Wildlife Sanctuaries provinces such as, Malabar Plains Province and of the State (Pande, 2005). This makes a total of Western Ghats Mountains Province (Table-I). 4 Fauna of Maharashtra, State Fauna Series, 20 i) SA Malabar Plains Province: This area Nashik, Thane, Pune, Ahmadnagar, Satara, Sangli lies mainly between the Arabian coast and the and Kolhapur districts. Altitude of the Western Western Ghats Mountains Province. It is a narrow Ghats ranges from 600 m to 1200 m or above. strip of coastal plains, about 27 to 48 km broad, The average altitude of the crest and conical hill stretching all along the State from north to south tops of this Western Ghats· is about 1400 m with covering a distance of about 720 km. This part is some mountain peaks like Matheran (802 m), also called as 'Kokan' The six coastal districts Bhimashankar (1000 m), Panchgani (1310 m), such as, Thane, Mumbai city, Mumbai suburban, Harishchandragad (1402 m), Mahabaleshwar Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg are falling under (1410 m) whereas the Kalsaubai (1646 m ) is the this province. Altitude of this province ranges from highest peak in the State of Maharashtra. mean sea level to 300 m. The Forest types and The average annual rainfall in this Western SUbtypes occurring in this province are mainly Ghats Mountains Province varies from 1000 mm southern tropical semi-evergreen, mixed to moist to 5500 mm or above. The good amount of rainfaH, deciduous, moist teak and mangrove scrub forests. high altitude and better soil types supports good Only one National Park i.e. Sanjay Gandhi substantial forested areas. The forest types and National Park and three Wildlife Sanctuaries are Subtypes occurring in this province are sub falling under this province (Table-I & 2). tropical evergreen forest, west coast semi ii) 58 Western Ghats Mountains Province: evergreen and mixed moist-deciduous forests on This province in Maharashtra commences from higher elevations whereas on the slopes supports Nandurbar district of Uttar Maharashtra and Dang dry and mixed-deciduous hill forest with some district of Gujarat in north and runs up to Terekhol Shola vegetation and on lower elevations some creek of Goa in south. This part of Western Ghats scurb jungJes with moist teak. One National Park of Maharashtra is also called as 'Sahyadri' and is (Chandoli National Park) and five Wildlife high rising border of Deccan Plateau. This is the Sanctuaries are falling under this province (Table- most conspicuous physiographic feature of 1 & 2). Peninsular India. The north-south run of this 2) 6 Deccan Plateau province is about 800 km and is parallel to the west coast. Western Ghats Mountains Province is The Deccan Plateau Biogeographic Zone of spread over partly in the Nandurbar, Dhule, Peninsular India is most extensive zone covering Table 1. Biogeographic Zones and Biotic Provinces of Maharashtra* Sl. Biogeographic Zone Biotic Provinces Province Area in sq km Total No. of No. alongwith code alongwith code with % of State area NPIWLS I 5 Western Ghats i) 5A Malabar Plains 23.626 (7.7) INP&3WLS ii) 58 Western Ghats 13.928 (4.5) 1 NP & 5 WLS Mountains 2 6 Deccan Plateau i) 6A Central Highlands 12.679 (4.1) 1 NP&6WLS ii) 6D Central Plateau 2.46.148 (80.0) 3 NP & 20 WLS iii) 6E Southern Plateau 7.866 (2.6) Nil 3 8 Coasts i) 8A West Coast 3,467 (1.1) 1 WLS Total Area of the State 3.07,714 = Total Protected Areas (PA' s) 41 6 NP & 35 WLS NP-National Park~ WLS-Wildlife Sanctuary Source : Compiled and adopted from Pande (2005) MAHABAL and SHARMA : An overview 5 14,21,000 sq km or 43% of total land mass of the basin on its southern part. There are also Hingoli country. Of which, Maharashtra accounts to Hills, Mudkhed Hills, and Garamsur Hills 2,66,693 sq km area or 86.7% of the State area. occurring in this Central Plateau Province. As this This zone is further divided into three Biotic province exhibits alternate arrangement of hills Provinces such as, Central Highlands Province, and plateaus, altitude varies from 300 m to 900 m Central Plateau Province and Southern Plateau or above. Southern ~ropicaJ dry and mixed Province (Table 1). deciduous forest along with dry teak, secondary scrub, and southern thorn forests are found in this (i) 6A Central Highlands Province: This area provice. Three National Parks (Pench, Nawegaon is particularly the Satpuda-Maikal Range (between and Tadoba National Parks) and 20 Wildlife Narmada and Tapi River) on the southern border Sanctuaries fall within this province (Table-I of the State of Madhya Pradesh and northern & 2). boundary of Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Akola and Amravati districts of Maharashtra. The (iii) 6E Southern Plateau Province : This Buldhana-Gavilgad Range also occurs in this covers a small area of Deccan Plateau. It is province. Altitude in this province ranges between adjoining the Western Ghats on west side and 300 m and 600 m, whereas in some areas of Central Plateau on eastern side covering most of Satapuda and Gavilgad ranges, it varies between the Kolhapur district and parts of Sangl i and Satara 600 m and 1100 m. Southern tropical dry districts of the State (Map-I & 2). The southern deciduous with dry teak are the Forest Subtypes tropical dry and mixed moist-deciduous forests occurring in the forested areas of this province. occur in this province. There are no National Parks One National Park (Gugamal National Park) and and Wildlife Sanctuaries in this province six Wildlife Sanctuaries fall within this province (Table-I). (Table-I & 2). 3) 8 Coastal Zone (ii) 6D Central Plateau Province : This India has a coast line of about 7500 km province comprises 80% of the State area (Table- stretching over nine states and two archipelagos 1) and covers five administrative regions such as on eastern and western sides (Alfred et al. 200 I). Uttar Maharashtra, Marathwada, Amravati region, The complex coastal ecosystem comprises of gulfs, Nagpur region and parts of the districts from estuaries, lagoons, backwaters, salt marshes. Western Maharashtra (Map-I). mangroves, mud flats, rocky and sandy shores. There are many ranges and hills occurring in this province beside several river basins. After i) 8A West Coast Province : Coastal the first Satpuda-Maikal Range of Central Maharashtra, having a length of 720 km and an Highlands Province, occur the second set of hill area of about 3,467 sq km. is hardly 1.1 % of the ranges, Satamala Range and Ajanta Range and State area (Table-I). The State has Exclusize the third set of hill ranges, Harishchandra Range Economic Zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles from and Balaghat Range towards south and south east. the coast line to adjacent territorial waters. There In between the first and second set of hill ranges, are six coastal districts, namely, Sindhudurg. major river Tapi and number of its tributaries form Ratnagiri, Raigad, Mumbai, Mumbai suburban and Tapi river basin occur whereas in between second Thane. The Forest types and Subtypes occurring and third sets of hill ranges, major river Godavari in this province are Littoral forest including the and number of its tributaries form the Godavari mangrove vegetation, swampy vegetation and river basin are found. Towards further south, the coastal scrub forest. The only marine protected last range in this province is Mahadev Range; this area of the state Malvan Sagri (Marine) Wildlife range separates Bhima river with number of its Sanctuary of about 29 sq km area falls in this tributaries on its northern part and Krishna river province (Table-2). Table 2. National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries (Protected Areas) of Maharashtra* (as per the Biogeographic Zones and Boitie Provinces) SI. Name of Protected District Total Area Year of Biotic Province Forest Type No! Areas (Sq km) Notification 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Western Ghat Zone (Code 5) 1 Phansad WLS Raigad 69.79 1986 5A Malabar plain Southern moist, semi-evergreen & very moist teak 2 Kamala Fort Bird Sanctuary Raigad 16.84 1968 5A Malabar plains region - Southern moist mixed deciduous spurs of Western Ghats forest to semi-evergreen forest (Sea level 470 msl) 3 Sanjay Gandhi NP Mumbai 86.96 195011983 5A Malabar plains region - Southern mixed to moist & Thane spurs of Northern Western deciduous, semi-evergreen, Ghats (Sea level to 462 msl) mangrove scrub forest and very moist teak 4 Tungareshwar WLS Thane 85.7 2003 SA - Malabar plain Deciduous & evergreen forest 5 Kalsubai Harishchandragarh WLS Ahmednagar 361.71 1986 5B Western Ghats Mountain West coast southern mixed region (333-1646 msl) moist deciduous forest to semi- evergreen & evergreen forest 6 Tansa WLS Thane 304.81 1970 58 Western Ghats Mountain Southern mixed moist deciduous region (52-859 msl) forest to semi-evergreen forest & very moist teak 7 Bhimashankar WLS Pune & 130.78 1985 5B Western Ghats Mountain Semi-evergreen forest & moist Thane region (180-1208 msl) . to evergreen forest 8 Koyna WLS Satara 423.55 1985 5 B Western Ghats Mountain Southern semi-evergreen, mixed region (609-1260 msl) semi-moist deciduous, dry & mixed deciduous hill forest 9 Chandoli NP Junction of 308.97 1985 58 Western Ghats Mountain Sub tropical hill forest; semi- Sangli, Satara, region (589-1044 msl) evergreen & southern moist. Kolhapur & mixed-deciduous forest Ratnagiri 10 Radhanagari WLS Kolhapur 351.16 195811985 5B Western Ghats Mountain West coast semi-evergreen, region (530-1033 msl) moist mixed & tropical deciduous forest