Previous Year Question

The Ganges River Dolphin is the National Aquatic Animal of India.

Its scientific name is Platanista gangetica gangetica, and it is also known as the Gangetic dolphin, Ganges dolphin or susu.

The Government of India declared the Ganges River Dolphin the National Aquatic Animal in 2009.

It is an exclusively freshwater river dolphin found mainly in the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and associated river systems.

Apart from India, its populations also occur in certain rivers of Nepal and Bangladesh.

The eyes of the Ganges dolphin are extremely small, and its vision is highly limited.

It uses echolocation to navigate, avoid obstacles and locate prey.

It emits sound waves underwater and obtains information about its surroundings from echoes returning from objects.

It has a long snout and feeds on fish, prawns and other small aquatic organisms.

It is a mammal and therefore breathes through lungs instead of gills, coming to the water surface at regular intervals.

The Ganges dolphin is an indicator species of river health because its presence indicates adequate water flow, food availability and a comparatively healthy river ecosystem.

Dams and barrages may separate its populations and affect migration, breeding and food availability.

Water pollution, reduced river flow, accidental entanglement in fishing nets, vessel movement and underwater noise are its major threats.

Project Dolphin was launched in India to promote the conservation of the Ganges dolphin and other riverine and marine dolphins.

The saltwater crocodile is India’s largest living reptile and occurs in Bhitarkanika, the Sunderbans and the Andaman-Nicobar region, but it is not the National Aquatic Animal.

The Olive Ridley turtle is famous for mass nesting or arribada along the Odisha coast, but it is not the National Aquatic Animal.

The gharial is a critically endangered river reptile, but it has not been declared the National Aquatic Animal of India.