Neolissochilus hexagonolepis (Figure 1) is a riverine fish found in the foothills of the eastern Himalaya regions of India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar (Jayaram 1981). This fish is commonly known as chocolate mahseer (in English), Katli (in Nepalese) and Bokar (in northeast India). Like all the Indian mahseer, the species' population is declining in the rivers. It is a very important foodfish and is also an important sport species (Nautiyal 2006). In 1993-94, a government officer tried ranching the species in lakes. The trial was successful, leading to stocking the species in lake Shally in the Lower Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh, India (Laskar et al. 2005). Following that success, the species was introduced by many non-government organizations into lakes in northeast India. The trials were successful in many cases. It was found from discussion with Mr. J. Taba, the former District Fishery Development Officer of the Lower Dibang Valley district that the stocks of chocolate mahseer existing presently in lake Borapani in Meghalaya, India, were once sold under his official jurisdiction after being collected from the rivers of that district.
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