''; South African open record Torines are currently of interest for both
recreational fishing, being highly valued as
game fish, and wild-caught fish costing up to $250 per kg; mahseers are one of the most expensive freshwater fish products, and are thus cultured in
Malaysia and
Indonesia. Other hybrids include
Tor tor ×
T. khudree, with offspring intermediate in morphology,
T. putitora × "
T. mussullah", which may be bred through
hypophysation or when the parents are provided a high protein diet, feed additives, and flowing water, and
T. tambroides ×
Barbonymus gonionotus, also through induced spawning. Juvenile and mahseer eggs from India have reportedly been transported to the
Laotian Mekong and
Papua New Guinea for stocking purposes; the eggs are apparently
air-transportable after 24 hours of hardening, and when packed within layers of moist
cotton. Archaeologists working at sites from the
Indus Valley Civilisation (3300–1300
BCE) collected
pottery decorated with fish motifs as well as fish bones left in
middens. Hora interpretated these motifs as various species common today in the
Indus Basin, including mahseer. During his study of the fish bones, the ethnoarchaeologist Dr William R. Belcher discovered that while fish comprised a substantial portion of this civilization's diet, largely being the bones of
Indian carp and
catfish, bones of mahseer were extremely rare if present at all; it has been suggested that this is evidence of the mahseer's high cultural value for these peoples.
Scale armour fashioned from mahseer scales are known from both
Sarawak and
Pune. The people of
Nagaland used mahseer pharyngeal teeth for decoration, and the nearby
Bodo people fashioned their
gill plates to create the
muri, an instrument similar to the
oboe. References to masculine "mahseer-like" figures are found throughout
Hindu religious scriptures,
symbols, motifs, sculptures, and in ancient literature. During the later period of the
Chalukya dynasty, under the
Western Chalukya Empire, King
Someshvara III writes of fishing within the rivers and seas of his kingdom, which encompass areas now known to be inhabited by
Tor remadeviae,
Tor malabaricus, and
Tor khudree; he explicitly names the "mahashila", "large river fish(es) of the scaly type", H.S. Thomas gives a description of south Indian followers of
Hinduism equating mahseers with
Matsya, one of the god
Vishnu's
avatars who is responsible for saving
Manu from
the flood. Many of those stationed in India enjoyed angling for mahseer, which they compared to the thrill of catching a
salmon 'back home'. Indeed, H.S. Thomas, author of one of the first books on angling in the colonies said "the mahseer shows more sport for its size than a salmon". They also produced guidebooks and penned letters to sporting journals such as
The Field and
Fishing Gazette. The
Mysore Palace houses a number of
taxidermied trophy mahseer. coat of arms with a Mahseer as
supporter. The mahseer was an important symbol in the
heraldry of certain Muslim-ruled former
princely states of the
Subcontinent such as
Baoni,
Bhopal,
Kurwai and
Rampur.
Dost Mohammad Khan's son Yar Mohammad received from
Nizam-ul-Mulk the insignia of the
Maha Muratib (the dignity of the Fish). The insignia became part of the Bhopal State's
coat of arms. The Mahseer fish as an emblem of the highest honour in royalty is allegedly of
Persian origin and was adopted by the courts of
Oudh and the
Paigah nobles of
Hyderabad State, being later passed down to other states of the area.
Translocations of mahseer within India have occurred since at least the 1850s; these were intended to improve angling locales or in an attempt to augment declining stocks. Translocations occurred in the
Lakes of Kumaon hills,
Bhimtal,
Nainital,
Naukuchiatal, and
Sattal Lake, which were stocked with mahseer by Sir H. Ramsey in 1858 from stocks brought from the rivers
Gaula and
Sharda. According to Walker in his 'Angling in the Kumaon Lakes', the Bhimtal stocking was less successful, until a second batch of fish were introduced in 1878. This is clearly a misunderstanding of the history of mahseer in the lakes, as Walker earlier says: The inference must be that the introductions of mahseer into the lakes caused the unexpected decline of several native fish stocks, either due to
competition, or by direct predation and that the earlier fish stocks were notable.
Conservation '' two decades after its last sighting; the species is now deemed extinct. Many species of Torinae are poorly understood ecologically; around half of
Tor species are considered
data deficient.
Hydrological engineering, such as the construction of
dams, is thought to be a major cause in the population decline of migratory Torinae, along with other causes of habitat destruction such as destructive fishing practices,
pollution, and
sand mining. is also a threat; exposure to
pesticides has been proven to hinder growth and feeding. Targeting the spawning grounds during spawning season may be especially impactful to the population. Though not verified in mahseer, other migratory fish experience disruptions in their migratory patterns after
hatchery stocks were introduced to the population, which may "prove to be the end for natural spawning behavior". such as through the application of
ovaprim, but successful spawning has been achieved through "photo-thermal manipulation" (by exposing adult mahseer to adjustable
artificial light levels; see also
artificial light supplementation). Artificial waterways mimicking natural lake-and-river systems have also been successful in achieving spawning behaviors which produced viable eggs. Hatchery
broodstocks often have high
homozygosity, which indicates high levels of
inbreeding; methods of mitigation may include selecting for parent fish from different
stocks or populations. Alternatively, a
ranching system may hold promise: larvae are reared to advanced
fingerling stage within artificial channels adjacent to the main river before being released into the wild. This method has shown success with
Pacific salmon. In
India, many states have adopted mahseer as their
State Fish.
Arunachal Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu and Kashmir and
Uttarakhand all have the golden mahseer,
Nagaland has the chocolate mahseer (
Neolissochilus hexagonolepis),
Odisha has the 'Mahanadi mahseer' (
Tor mosal mahanadicus), and
Karnataka is considering changing its State Fish from
Carnatic carp to the Critically Endangered
Tor remadeviae. Mahseers are culturally protected in India while in the vicinity of certain sites, such as
temples and bathing
ghats, where they are protected from fishing and become "almost tame" due to abundant offerings of feed by visitors. These "temple sanctuaries" or "temple pools", which are sometimes centuries-old, often support dense accumulations of mahseer outside of the monsoon season, which may precipitate risks of mass mortality if these areas become polluted or poisoned, An instance of mass mortality (known as a
fish kill) occurred in early February 2026, which affected the sacred mahseer of the tourist attraction in
Kuningan Regency,
West Java. It is thought that this fish kill was caused by the mahseers' declining body condition due to poor water quality, or lowered temperatures following rainfall. ==References==