BIOTOPE : Baliara Island, West Bengal

BIOTOPE : Baliara Island, West Bengal

Description: This is a beautiful island south of West Bengal, India. A region primarily leading in agriculture and fishing. The island is a paradise for bird watchers and Biotope enthusiasts primarily due to its diversity owing to the muddy mangrove forests and shallow tidal pools.

How to Reach:  From Esplanade (Kolkata) take a bus for Namkhana or Train from Sealdah to Namkhana .Then cross the Hatania-Doyania River and on the other side of the river take a Bakkhali bound bus and get down at Sashmol bus stop only 7 km from Namkhana.From Sashmol Bus stop take a cycle van to reach Sashmol Ghat (around 20 mins).From Sashmol Ghat take a motor boat to cross the Chenai river to reach (Baghdanga) Mousuni. From there you can reach Baliara Island. And by road - use google maps don't be so lazy.

Lodging: There is no hotel as such to stay there one can approach the local panchayat office at Baghdanga to stay there.Or contact the local people to stay in someone's house. For lunch and dinner contact the local Sweet sellers in advance.

The places to visit near are Baghdanga,Poila Gheri (Kakramari),Paschim Saikat,Kusumtala.

Nearby Towns: Namkhana, Kakdwip, Bakkhali

 BIOTOPE INFORMATION

WATER :

pH: 7.3-8.0,
15-25 dH,
75-86 F (24-30 C)

Brackish water specific gravity of 1.005 to 1.008 is good [Pure water has a sp. gr of 1.000, while seawater typically has around 1.025].

FLORA :

Very limited. Pretty much all mangrove seedlings grow above water - Phoenix paludosa, Excoecaria agallocha, Heritiera fomes, Bruguiera parviflora. Plants like Excoecaria agallocha can also be used in the land area in case of big aquariums.

TANK :

The tank should have a sandy or clayey substrate.

Use wood to recreate the mangrove roots of the swamp.

Use an efficient filtering system, because brackish water fish are heavy eaters, yet sensitive to water pollutants.  

One popular brackish-water set-up is to leave the tank only half full with water (i.e.

paludarium type setup). A silty land area is constructed and potted mangrove seedlings grow above the water surface. Such a set-up allows an aquariast to observe unusual behaviour from brackish species such as mudskippers and certain crabs.

  

FAUNA:

A lot of fishes specially of the gobiidae family are native to place. Also eels and certain oddballs are also open as an option. Fishes like Indian-dwarf mudskipper (Periopthalmus novemradiatus), Duckbill sleeper (Butis butis), Ocellated pufferfish

(Tetraodon cutcutia), Indian mottled eel (Anguila bengalensis), Tank goby (Glossogobius giuris), Bleeding Heart Goby (Gobiopterus chuno),  Neon Spot Goby (Amoya brevirostris), etc.

Also shrimps as Ghost shrimp (Palaemonetes sp.), Macrobrachium rude, and blue striped hermit crab (Clibanarius longitarsus), and Orange-striped hermit crab (Clibanarius infraspinatus) are pretty much common.