[4] The range of these fish is from Vietnam in the east and China in the north, through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, and across southern Asia including the countries of India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh within the Indian Peninsula, plus Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In developing strategies for aquaculture and propagation assisted rehabilitation of mahseer species, resolution of taxonomic ambiguities is needed [10] and adherence to IUCN stocking guidelines [11] must be followed.

Like other types of carps, they are omnivorous, eating not only algae, crustaceans, insects, frogs, and other fish, but also fruits that fall from trees overhead.

The first species from this group were scientifically described by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1822, and first mentioned as an angling challenge by the Oriental Sporting Magazine in 1833, soon becoming a favorite quarry of British anglers living in India.

[citation needed] Alternatively, mahā-śalka, meaning large-scaled, is suggested, as the scales are so large that Francis Buchanan mentions that playing cards were made from them at Dacca.

[14] The name mahasher is commonly used in Urdu, Punjabi, and Kashmiri languages in Pakistan for this fish and is said to be made up of two local words: maha = big and sher = lion, as it ascends in the hilly rivers and streams of Himalaya courageously.

Mahseers in Indonesia possess a multitude of names owing to the multiethnic composition of the country; in Java, they are referred to as ikan dewa; literally God-Fish or Fish of the Gods.

Thomas also gives a description of south Indian followers of Hinduism equating mahseer with Matsya, one of the incarnations of the god Vishnu and responsible for saving Manu from the flood.

This tale is common in many of the classic Hindu texts, with the first reference being in the Shatapatha Brahmana, part of the Vedas body of works dated from 1500 to 400 BCE.

Among the best documented areas where fish movements have been used for reasons of improving angling sport, or attempting to augment declining stocks are the Lakes of Kumaon hills.

In Himachal Pradesh, golden mahseer is depleting at a fast rate from the state even though it was categorised as an endangered species by the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources as early as 1992.

[36] It has been reported that the Teesta River in Sikkim and West Bengal has been stocked with hundreds of thousands of golden mahseer every year since at least 2014 in a drive to promote angling in the region.

[37] That the fish stocks continue to decline [38][39] suggests that the policy needs to be reviewed and more efforts devoted to improving habitat as the first priority.

Following this publication, fresh impetus into understanding the ecology of wild populations and establishing more secure species identities will allow coherent conservation programmes to be enacted, and fish currently listed Data Deficient to be accorded with relevant threat status.

In 2017, Mahseer Trust convened a different kind of event, by including representatives to discuss all aspects of both the fish and the river habitat in which they live.