Myanmar has two large lakes with several endemic species reported. Indawgyi Lake near Myitkyina in northern Myanmar is well-known for the stickleback-like Indostomus paradoxus, for long the only known species in the family Indostomidae, but that one as well as other species initially reported as unique from the lake have been found to have a much wider distribution. The Indawgyi fish fauna was monographed by Prashad & Mukerji (1929).Inle Lake near Taunggyi in southeastern Myanmar, however, has many endemic species. Inle is about 22 km long and 6 km wide and located at ca 1000 m elevation in a limestone area. Two cyprinid genera (Sawbwa and Inlecypris) and 16 of 31 species have been suggested as endemic to the lake and its affluents (Prasad & Mukerji, 1929; Annandale, 1918; Kottelat, 1990). Particularly interesting are representatives of the temperate Yunnan plateau fauna, of which the Shan Plateau makes up the southern portion, including the genera Cyprinus and Yunnanilus.
Inle has crystal clear water and a wide marginal belt of floating vegetation on which locals grow vegetables. The lake is fished mainly for the local carp Cyprinus intha which traditionally is captured with a special device, consisting of a conical frame holding a gill net. Carp fishermen forage over the lake from canoes, standing at the prow and rowing with a long paddle manoevered with one foot and supported against the hip. The fisherman locates the fish by sight and places the frame over the fish, which finally is chased into the gill-net with a spear. Currently, however, monofilament gill nets are widely employed on the lake. Small fish are generally taken in traps set in the vegetation, or with a triangular push net.
Inle has been surveyed by several expeditions and collecting trips, the most thorough being that of Annandale (1919). We collected in Inle in 1994 (Kullander and Fang) and 1996 (Ferraris).
It is alarming to find two large introduced species, Ctenopharyngodon idellus (grass carp) and Labeo rohita. The grass carp is definitely a threat to the ecosystem of the lake, characterized by abundant marginal weed swamps, apparently managing a nutrient balance than keeps the lake water clear and with a luxuriant bottom vegetation.
Musikasinthorn (1998) recently reported Parambassis lala from the northern end of the lake, apparently an introduction. Ng et al. (1999) revalidated Channa harcourtbutleri, a small snakehead restricted to the Inle basin, but up till now reported from Inle as Channa gachua.
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List of species
References
Annandale, N. 1918. Fish and fisheries of the Inlé Lake. Records of the Indian Museum, 14: 33-64. Kottelat, M.K. 1990. Indochinese nemacheilines. A revision of nemacheiline loaches of Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and southern Viet Nam. Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München, 262 pp. Kottelat, M. & K.-E. Witte. 1999. Two new species of Microrasbora from Thailand and Myanmar, with two new generic names for small Southeast Asian cyprinid fishes (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Journal of South Asian Natural History, 4: 49-56. Musikasinthorn, P. 1998. First record of Parambassis lala (Pisces: Ambassidae) from Inle Lake, the Salween River Basin, Myanmar. Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society, 46: 203-205. Ng, H.H., P.K.L. Ng & R. Britz. 1999. Channa harcourtbutleri (Annandale, 1918): a valid species of snakehead (Perciformes: Channidae) from Myanmar. Journal of South Asian Natural History, 4: 57-63. Prashad, B. & D.D. Mukerji. 1929. The fish of the Indawgyi Lake and the streams of the Myitkyina District (Upper Burma). Records of the Indian Museum, 31: 161-223.
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