Research Journal of Animal, Veterinary and Fishery Sciences __ _____________ ______ ____ __ ISSN 2320 – 6535 Vol. 1 ( 6 ), 1 8 - 20 , July (201 3 ) Res. J. Animal, Veterinary and Fishery Sci. International Science Congress Association 18 No. of Species √ Total Number of individuals Short Communication Study on the Fish Species Diversity of the River Narmada in Western Zone Sunita Bakawale 1 and Kanhere R.R. 2 1 Deptt. of Zoology, Govt. P.G. College, Mandsaur, MP, INDIA 2 Govt. Girls College Barwani, MP, INDIA Available online at: www.isca.in Received 31 st May 201 3 , revised 18 th July 201 3 , accepted 23 rd July 201 3Abstract Fish diversity of river Narmada were studied during September 2006 to August 2007. After construction of Sardar Sarovar Dam on ri ver Narmada a major part of the running water is being converted in to stagnant water. The fish fauna were studied during construction of dam on the river Narmada. The fish diversity is correlated with biological and various physico - chemical parameters th at regulate the productivity and distribution of different species of the fishes. The fish population is abundant and majority of fishes are exploited for human consumption. In present study, attempts have been made to collect, classify and identify fish of river Narmada in its Western Zone. The study operated on a stretch of the river approximately 15 km from Piplud to Jangerwa from September 2006 to August 2007. The survey indicated that 51 species of fish were found in this zone of the river. The major fish abundance was noticed viz. major carps, minor carps and cat fishes. The several species of fish belonging order Clupiformes, Cypriniformes, Beloniformes, Opiocephaliformes, Mastacambelliformes, Siluriformes and Perciformes. In which maximum 37 species belonging to the order Cypriniformes. Some species of fishes like Cirrihinus cirrihosa, Aspidoparia jaya, Colisa fasciatus, Labeo bata, Oreichthys cosuatis, Osteobrama cotio etc. showed a declining trend in this stretch. The fish species diversity was dec reasing. Diversity Index was lowest 0.53 in March and was highest 1 in October in the year 2006 - 2007. The main reasons behind the decline of species are habitat destruction, introduction of exotic species, pollution and over fishing. An urgent need exist s for studying the life history traits and demography of the most important threatened fishes, as lack of information on these aspects have significantly affected conservation efforts.Keywords: Fish fauna, d iversity, r iver Narmada, w estern z one . Introd uction The Narmada River is the fifth longest in India. It’s already been dammed in several places but the main dam, the Sardar Sarovar is closet to the Sea. In the river Narmada carps should be in major quantity but in spite of that data’s are reflecting that the No. of cat fish are increasing rather than the carps. Therefore fish species and Ecological condition of our area is being changing. No. of species are decreasing it mean’s species diversity in the descending order. The first information regardin g the ichthyofaunal assemblage of river Narmada is credited to 1 , who recorded 40 species of fish. Hilsa migration in Narmada which generally commenced in July when the first flood occurred 2 . 77 species have recorded 3 . 84 species belonging to 45 genera 4 . Many workers have also studied the fish fauna of river Narmada 5 - 8 . 150 species belonging to 26 families 9 . In spite of this rich diversity, literature concerning numerical studies of fish diversity is scarce. Material and Methods For the present study 14 t h stations were selected at the bank of river Narmada, Satmatra, Eklera, Kasrawad, Bagud, Piplud, Bhilkheda, Pendra, Nangaon, Pichhodi, Kathoda, Sondul, Jangarwa, Chikhalda and Koteshwar in the stretch of 15 k.s. the period of investigation were one year f rom September 2006 to August 2007. Fish species were collected with the help of local fishermen and the tribal people at various locations. The specimens were preserved in 5% formalin, morphometary of fishes with the helped of tools and identification of the fish was done with the help of literature 10 - 11 . Species Diversity of fishes are measured by the following methods - Results and Discussion Data collected during the study period, from at the sampling centers was utilized to estimate the fish diversity in the river Narmada . 51 Species of fish belonging to 7 orders and included under 15 families were collected in Narmada (table - 1). Perciformes cont ributed by 4 species, while ophiocephaliformes came thire in contribution and counted 3 species and rest species were from Clupiformes, Beloniformes, Siluriformes and Mastacembleformes (3,1,1, and 2 species respectively). X 100 Species Diversity = x 100 Research Journal of Animal, Veterinary and Fishery Sciences ___ _ _ ________________ _______________ ____ ISSN 2320 – 6535 Vol. 1 ( 6 ), 1 8 - 20 , July (201 3 ) Res. J. Animal, Veterinary and Fishery Sci . International Science Congress Association 19 The monthly species diversity of t he fishes were recorded as: September 0.91, October 1, November 0.81, December 0.57, January 0.81, February 0.89, March 0.53, April 0.67, May 0.78, June 0.67, July 0.53, August 0.54 ( t able - 2). The detailed monitoring and thorough comparisons of old collec tion and observations data with more recent ones showed that many species of fish in the river Narmada are declining and some have been disappeared . The present study reveals that at least 39 species, in comparison to the study of 4 are at decline and can be considered as threatened species or endangered species. The threatened Icthyofauna of river Narmada in Western Zone were.studied 8 . Table - 1 List of fishes recorded in River Narmada during Sep. 2006to Aug.2007. ORDER FAMILY GENERA Cypriniformes Cypri nidae Catla catla Cirrihinus mrigala Labeo rohita Aspidoparia jaya Cirrihinus cirrihosa Cirrihinus reba Crossochelius latius Discognathus lamta Labeo calbasu Labeo fimbriatus Labeo bata Labeo gonius Nemacheilus botia Oreichthys cosuatis Osteobrama cotio Puntius chola Puntius sarana Puntius sophorae Tor putitora Tor tor Clarius batrachus Mystus aor Mystus seenghala Oxygaster bacaila Puntius ticto Ctenopharygdon idella Cyprinus car pio Hypothalmicthys moltrix Siluridae Ompok bimaculatus Ompok pabo Wallago attu Bagridae Mystus bleekeri Mystus cavasius Rita rita Rita pavimentata Schielbeidae Clupisoma garua Heteropneustidae Heteropneustes fossilis Clupifor mes Clupeidae Gudusia chopra Notopteridae Notopterus notopterus Notopterus chitala Beloniformes Belonidae Xenthodon cancila Ophiocephalif ormes Ophiocephalidae Channa marulius Channa punctatus Channa striatus Perciformes Centropomidae Chanda nama Nandidae Nandus nandus Gobioidae Glassogobius giuris Anabantidae Colisa faciatus Mastacembalef ormes Mastacembelidae Masta cembelus armatus Mastacembelus pancalus Siluriformes Pangasiidae Pungasius pangasius Table – 2 Specie Diversity of Fishes in River Narmada (2006 - 07) Month Species Diversity September 0.91 October 1(high diversity) November 0.81 December 0.57 January 0.81 February 0.89 March 0.53 (low diversity) April 0.67 May 0.78 June 0.67 July 0.53 (low diversity) August 0.54 Conclusion The results indicate that reduction in the overall abundance of fish fa una in recovery compared to reference is a clear indication of the effect of habit destruction. Simultaneously, it was also revealed that the river has not recovered in the studied stretch. There is definitely some kind of disturbances in the river which i s causing reduction in the abundance of fish fauna. The disturbances visibly seen were local fish harvest by traditional means of fish catch or unseen means like illegal use of electrical appliances or poisoning of the fish fauna using plants herb extracti on by the local people. An urgent need exists for studying the life history traits and demography of the most important threatened fishes, as lack of information on these aspects have significantly affected conservation efforts. Research Journal of Animal, Veterinary and Fishery Sciences ___ _ _ ________________ _______________ ____ ISSN 2320 – 6535 Vol. 1 ( 6 ), 1 8 - 20 , July (201 3 ) Res. J. Animal, Veterinary and Fishery Sci . International Science Congress Association 20 References 1. Hora S. L. an d Nair K. 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