Rajeev Raghavan
Born
Kerala State, Kochi, India
Occupation(s)Assistant Professor, Fisheries Scientist
Known forFreshwater Fish Conservation, Fish Systematics
Board member ofMahseer Trust, SHOAL Conservation, Freshwater Life, Fisheries Conservation Foundation
AwardsFSBI MEDAL 2023
Academic background
Alma materSt. Albert's College,
University of Madras,
Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology,
University of Kent
Academic work
DisciplineConservation Biology, Fisheries science
Sub-disciplineFreshwater Fish Conservation, Fish Systematics, Molecular ecology, Inland Fisheries
InstitutionsKerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies International Union for Conservation of Nature
Websitehttp://www.fishlab.in

Rajeev Raghavan is a fisheries scientist and aquatic conservation biologist known for his work on the freshwater fishes of the Indian subcontinent.[1] Rajeev is currently an Assistant Professor at the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kochi, India, the South Asia Chair of the IUCN’s Freshwater Fish Specialist Group.[2][3], and the IUCN Freshwater Fish Red List Authority Coordinator for Asia and Oceania.

Rajeev has to his credit close to 200 publications (with 3500+ citations and a h-index of 29),[4] and has been listed in the Elsevier/Scopus Top 2% Scientists of the World for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022 [5]

In honour of Rajeev's research contributions to Indian ichthyology, two fish species have been named after him - a snakehead from the northern Western Ghats, Channa rara,[6] and a hill-stream loach Indoreonectes rajeevi.[7]

Research

Since 2003, Rajeev has been involved in interdisciplinary research that generates information to support conservation decision making in tropical aquatic ecosystems, particularly in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot.[8] His work cuts across multiple disciplines from systematics, to molecular ecology and biogeography, freshwater fisheries and conservation policies. His research group[9] is globally recognized for advancing the knowledge-base on understanding the diversity of freshwater fishes on the Indian subcontinent, resulting in the discovery and description of 21 new species (including three new genera and two new families).[10][11][12] Working with collaborators, he has also contributed to solving long-standing taxonomic and nomenclatural issues in Indian fish taxonomy.[13][14]

Dr. Rajeev is particularly known for his pioneering work that has helped improved our understanding of the diversity, distribution, and conservation of subterranean and groundwater fish species of southern peninsular India.[15] He has been involved in some of the most talked-after fish discoveries including the first subterranean snakehead Aenigmachanna gollum – a living fossil representing a unique family (Aenigmachannidae),[16][17][18], the world's largest cavefish, Neolissochilus pnar[19] and two unique species of subterranean eel-loaches, Pangio bhujia and Pangio pathala.[20][21]

References

  1. ↑ "An interview with Rajeev Raghavan – SHOAL Conservation". Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  2. ↑ "IUCN Freshwater Fish Specialist Group". Retrieved 18 Aug 2017.
  3. ↑ "Professors to study freshwater conservation - Eastern Mirror". Retrieved 26 Aug 2017.
  4. ↑ "Rajeev Raghavan". Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  5. ↑ "Kufos faculty member named among world's top scientists". Retrieved 15 Oct 2023.
  6. ↑ "Channa rara, a new species of snakehead fish from the Western Ghats region of Maharashtra, India (Teleostei: Labyrinthici: Channidae)". Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  7. ↑ "Two new species of the hillstream loach genus Indoreonectes from the northern Western Ghats of India (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae)". Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  8. ↑ "An interview with Rajeev Raghavan – SHOAL Conservation". Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  9. ↑ "Rajeev Research Group at KUFOS". Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  10. ↑ "World's largest cave fish discovered in India". National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  11. ↑ "New freshwater fish species discovered from Western Ghats". Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  12. ↑ "Three new species of fishes found in Western Ghats". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  13. ↑ "After 150 years, a fish gets a scientific name". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  14. ↑ Benziger, Allen (2011). "Unraveling a 146 Years Old Taxonomic Puzzle: Validation of Malabar Snakehead, Species-Status and Its Relevance for Channid Systematics and Evolution". PLOS ONE. 6 (6): e21272. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...621272B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021272. PMC 3123301. PMID 21731689.
  15. ↑ "India's ancient underground fish species under threat due to poor water governance". Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  16. ↑ "Gollum surfaces in India: Scientists document the first underground snakehead fish". Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  17. ↑ "Snakehead fish species found in Kerala a living fossil, belongs to unique family, study says". Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  18. ↑ "Dragon snakeheads—strange new underground fish—discovered in India". National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on February 21, 2021. Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  19. ↑ "Meghalaya: World's largest cavefish named after Pnar community". Retrieved 26 Feb 2023.
  20. ↑ "Named after 'bhujia', a new species of underground fish pops up in Kerala". Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
  21. ↑ "To Find the Fish, Find the People: How Scientists Came Upon the Pathala Eel Loach". Retrieved 23 Oct 2022.
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