Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 22, 2026

Rajeev Raghavan

Rajeev Raghavan is a fisheries scientist and aquatic conservation biologist known for his work on the freshwater fishes of the Indian subcontinent. 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., and the IUCN Freshwater Fish Red List Authority Coordinator for Asia and Oceania.

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Jul 22, 2026
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Rajeev Raghavan
Born
Kerala State, Kochi, India
OccupationsAssistant Professor, Fisheries Scientist
Known forFreshwater Fish Conservation, Fish Systematics
Board member of
Mahseer Trust, SHOAL Conservation, Freshwater Life, Fisheries Conservation Foundation
AwardsFSBI MEDAL 2023 [1]
Academic background
Alma materSt. Albert's College,
University of Madras,
Wuhan Institute of Hydrobiology,
University of Kent
Academic work
DisciplineConservation Biology, Fisheries science
Sub-discipline
Freshwater 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.,23 and the IUCN Freshwater Fish Red List Authority Coordinator for Asia and Oceania.

Rajeev has to his credit more than 200 publications 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 group9 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).101112 Working with collaborators, he has also contributed to solving long-standing taxonomic and nomenclatural issues in Indian fish taxonomy.1314

References

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.