Kasargod: A fish laden tempo overturned after its tyre burst near Uppala gate here on Sunday August 9.

The tempo was plying from Kasargod to Mangaluru. The tyre got separated from the tempo which hit a Maruthi car coming from Hosangady injuring four persons.

The injued have been identified as Khader (40), his wife Khadeeja (35), Samad (14) and Shahanaz (8), all residents of Alike. They have been admitted to a hospital in Uppala.

Moodabidre: A fish merchant sffering from acute stomach pain ended his life by juming into a well in Ontikatte here on the wee hours of Thursday August 6.

The deceased has been identified as Bhoja Devadiga (64), a resident of Ontikatte.

It is said that he was suffering from stomach pain since many years and could not get rid of it even after amny medications. On Thursday he woke up in the early morning and went outside the house and jumped into the nearby government well and ended his life.

A case has been filed in Moodabidre police station.

Bengaluru: A new species of fish has been discovered in the Kudremukh National Park (KNP) in Karnataka by a team of experts and researchers from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in Bengaluru.

The newly discovered species, now named Pethia striata, belongs to the family Cyprinidae, which includes the delicious common carp (a food fish), the aquarium goldfish and the zebrafish, a much studied model organism for genetics.

V M Atkore is a researcher from ATREE who is currently studying the effect of habitat disturbance on fish biodiversity in the wet evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of the KNP which are parts of the Western Ghats. As part of his study, he conducted extensive fish sampling in the Tunga river basin located in KNP. During one such excursion, he came across a group of fish which had a golden spot near their tails and an unusual striated (striped) appearance.

“I was unable to identify the fish at the species  level, and so showed it to Dr K Rema Devi from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI, Chennai) who is an expert in fish taxonomy”, said Atkore. With help from Dr J D Marcus Knight and Dr J Krishnaswamy, the fish was identified as a new species of Pethia from the Western Ghats. The discovery has been reported in a research article in the journal Copeia.The new species was named  Pethia striata due to the distinct striations or stripes along the sides of the body. It is a relatively small fish of about 3-4cm in length. 

During the breeding season, the males exhibit a striking red coloration, while the females are coloured a muted greenish-grey. The species is currently thought to be endemic to the Western Ghats, and has been observed in only two streams (the Mudba and the Turad) of the Tunga river basin.

Pethia striata is a fairly rare species found in small groups of 3-4 individuals in shallow pools with gently flowing water beneath the shade of dense canopy.

Kundapur: A fish laden lorry plunged into a gorge on NH66 near Trasi beach after losing control. The lorry was transporting fish from Gangolli to Chennai.

The lorry was supposed to travel via Kundapur to Chennai. But as one of the drivers was at home the lorry driver took the Maravante road. Driver escaped with minor injuries.

Two cranes were used to lift the lorry from the gorge.

 

Mangaluru: In a road mishap that occurred on the early hours of Saturday March 14 a tempo driver was badly injured and was admitted to a private hospital.

The injured person has been identified as Moidin (40).  Moidin was heading to his destination after loading the fish to his tempo in Bunder. A tipper lorry rammed over his tempo in Jeppinamogaru. Tipper driver fled away from the site without stopping the vehicle.

Load of fish was scattered all over the road. It was fish feast for local resident s  as they rushed to the spot and grabbed the fish as much as they can.

A case has been filed in rural police station.

New Delhi: Health experts have for long recognised that consuming fish wards off heart diseases and now a new study has suggested that peptide found in fish contributes in battle against cardiovascular diseases.

Eating oily fish actually lowers the levels of fats called triglycerides in the blood which reduces the risk of heart disease and improves your chances of survival following a heart attack.

The peptide Urotensin II (UII) was first isolated from teleost fish, a class of ray-finned fishes.

UII can modulate a vast array of biologic activities encompassing the cardiovascular system, kidneys and central nervous system, the findings showed.

Professor David Lambert from the University of Leicester in Britain was quoted as saying: “We have been working on this exciting peptide for a number of years; it exhibits a very interesting pharmacological profile. Design and evaluation of small molecule drugs has potential for use in the treatment of several cardiovascular diseases”

Interestingly, the peptide can constrict some blood vessels yet dilate others, the researchers noted.

Kolkata: The country’s first hospital to treat abnormalities and diseases in fish is set to come up in Kolkata by mid-2015, a senior scientist said. Senior scientist T J Abraham, who is spearheading the project told PTI that the work has already started on the project.

 He said that nearly 60-65 kinds of disease and abnormality were found in fishes in India and the one reason why West Bengal slipped from the number one position in fish production was due to the fact that 10-20 per cent of them died of diseases. “Such hospitals are quite common in foreign countries,” Abraham, a senior fish microbiologist with the West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, said.

 The institute will not only help fish farmers increase yield by reducing the number of fish deaths, but will also ensure that people will consume healthy fish, he points out. According to Abraham, the hospital will have 50 glass aquariums, 25 circular water tanks, each with a capacity of 500 litres, to admit and treat diseased fish. The hospital will also have a separate well-equipped pathological lab to diagnose various fish diseases.

 Asked when fish growers should approach the hospital, he said, “In such cases as abnormality, sudden death, change in colour or drastic reduction of weight, they may either contact the hospital or visit it with fish and water samples.” He said that the diseased fish would be kept in aquariums for observation and after ascertaining the disease/ abnormality, medicines and tips would be provided to the growers.

 The fish hospital, which is funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, under the Union Ministry of Agriculture, has a budget of Rs five crore. “Nearly Rs 1.70 crore will be spent on hospital construction and the rest on creating infrastructure and lab facilities,” said Abraham. Apart from Abraham, who is heading the project, there will be another scientist and the team of the two will be assisted by 4-6 research scholars initially. Abraham said that the hospital would document diseases affecting fish in Bengal to be forwarded to the World Animal Health Organisation, Paris of which India is a member.