International Research Journal of Environment Sc iences________________________________ ISSN 2319 – 1414 Vol. 2 ( 6 ), 8 - 12 , June (201 3 ) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci. International Science Congress Association 8 The Study of Ichthyofaunal Diversity of Chenani Hydroelectric Reservoir, Udhampur (J&K) INDIA Mohan V.C. 1 , Sharma K.K. 1 , Sharma A . 1 and Watts P . 2 1 Department of Zoology University of Jammu, Jammu (J&K) , INDIA 2 Department of Zoology, G.N.D.U Amritsar, Punjab, INDIA Available online at: www.isca.in Received 8 th March 201 3 , revised 11 th April 201 3 , accepted 13 th May 201 3 Abstract The present work was carried out in Chenani hydroelectric reservoir to investigate its monthly variations in the physico - chemical parameters and its fish fauna during the study period of September 2011 to August 2012. Eight species of fishes which belongs to a single family i.e Cyprinidae (Schizothorax richardsonii, Tor pitutora, Cirrhinus mrigala mrigala, Garra gotyla gotyla, Labeo boga, Labeo bata, Labeo rohita and Labeo dero) were found in Chenani hydroelectric reservoir. The relative species diversity, species richness, dominance and evenness indexes were calculated. The value of Simpson index ranged between H’= 0.34(March) to 1.48(Nov.). The value of Shannon - Weiner index was higher (I= 1.81) in March and lower (I=0.96) in Sept. Species richness in term of Maraglef’s index and Menhinick’s index varied between minimum valued R 1 = 0.71 (Sept.) to a maximum value R 1 = 2.07 (Aug.) and a minimum valued R 2 = 0.49 (Sept.) to a maximum value R 2 =1.48 (Aug.) respectively. Th e minimum evenness value was observed in Nov. and maximum in Oct. the values being E = 0 and E= 0.96 respectively . Keywords : Ichthyofaunal, Chenani hydroelectric reservoir, physico - chemical parameters, fish fauna, s hannon - weiner index Introduction From the ancient time man has been using fresh water fish both for food and game purposes. From past 4 - 5 decades population explosion has posed a great threat on fish population. Fish diversity has been declined to greater extent due to destruction of habitat both by natural and anthropogenic factors. Studies in wide variety of ecosystems and organisms suggest that species richness tends to vary strongly with ecosystem production and ha bitat heterogeneity 1 . Studies of spatial and temporal patterns of diversity, distribution and composition of freshwater fishes are useful to examine different factors that influence the structure of the fish community 2 . Fish species are also an important i ndicator of ecological health and the abundance and health of fish will show the health of water bodies 3 . Fish is used as a significant source of protein for millions of people around the world. Human population explosion has placed a significant demand on fish as a food source. It is estimated that approximately 25 percent of all protein consumed by people comes from fish sources of both marine and fresh water ecosystem. Fish research has become an increasingly important study area, as fish population is d eclining throughout the world. The decline of fish has an adverse impact on aquatic ecosystems as well as a significant impact on human population as it is one of the primary food sources. Anthropogenic activities such as modification of the environment, c ulture, harvesting and effects of modernization have contributed to the pollution of water bodies which serve as habitat for fishes 4 . Further overfishing in the past 4 - 5 decades has significantly reduced fish populations across the world. The purpose of p resent work is to find out various fish fauna inhabiting the Chenani hydroelectric reservoir. The data so obtained will helps the environmentalist and policy makers to determine what course of action to be taken for proper management and protection of fish fauna. Material and Methods Chenani hydroelectric reservoir is situated at 32°57’ 45.49’ N to 75°10’ 46.93’E having dimension of 750×150×22 feet with a capacity of 15 mw (figure 1). Water in poured into the reservoir by an artificial canal of 9 km from r iver Tawi. Water samples were collected once every month from this reservoir during September 2011 to August 2012 and estimated for physico - chemical parameters like water temperature, air temperature, transparency, pH, dissolved oxygen, free carbon dioxide , carbonates, bicarbonates, calcium, magnesium, chloride, sulphates, nitrates and phosphates by standard methods of APHA 5 . The fish fauna shall be collected using cast net, with the help of local fisherman on monthly basis. Specimens so collected will be identified using various morphometric and meristic characters i.e. general body shape, structure of fins and parameters like total length, standard length, length of caudal fin, dorsal fin , pelvic and pectoral fin; body depth, head length, eye diameter, pre - dorsal and post - dorsal distance. Fishes will be identified and classified as per the classification scheme given 6 - 9 . The diversity of fishes were calculated by Simpson Index 10 and Shannon - Weiner 11 . Species Richness was calculated in terms of Margalef’ s index and Menhinick’s 12 index and evenness indices by Pielou's index 13 . International Research Journal of Environment Sciences_ ______________ _________________________ ______ ISSN 2319 – 1414 Vol. 2 ( 6 ), 8 - 12 , June (201 3 ) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci. International Science Congress Association 9 Results and Discussion Analysis of Physico - chemical parameters : The values of water quality parameters are given in the table 1. Water temperature is an important parameter for any a quatic ecosystem by its value of influence on aquatic life directly or indirectly. In the present study water temperature was gradually decreased from Sept. 2011 to January 2012 and increasing from February 2012 to June 2012. The value of water temperature ranged between 9.7 0 C (Dec.) to 24 0 C (June) Maximum value of both air and water temperature in the month of June may be attributed to the increased photoperiod and longer day length whereas minima acquired in December may be due to shorter photoperiod and shorter day length. Further atmospheric temperature of an area also depends upon its altitudinal and longitudinal location 14 - 16 . Water colour of this river was clear throughout the year except monsoon (August) influencing the transparency and turbidity of the river water. pH of water remain alkaline throughout the year and ranged between 8.2 (Nov.) to 8.6 (June). The alkaline nature of pH may be the result of various biological activities as also studied 17 . High pH in summer was because of utilization of b icarbonate and carbonate buffer system 18 . Dissolved oxygen showed an increase with the decline in water temperature and its values ranged between 4.82 mgl - 1 (Sept.) to 9.58 mgl - 1 (Jan.). Free carbon dioxide bear inverse relationship with dissolved oxygen a nd its value increased in summer season while decreased in winter. The value of FCO 2 ranged between 1.23 mgl - 1 (Feb.) to 6.21 mgl - 1 (Sept.). Bicarbonates were present in the permissible limit and ranged between 80.0 mgl - 1 (Sept.) to 149.8 mgl - 1 (Feb.). Dur ing the study period, the values of chloride fluctuated between 4.09 mgl - 1 (Feb.) to 22.99 mgl - 1 (Sept.). The higher concentration recorded during summer may be due to animal, agricultural and sewage runoff during rain and higher evaporation rate 19 . The value of sulphates, phosphates and nitrates do not Varied in uniform manner. Further their concentrations increases during monsoon season because of animal and agricultural runoff. Analysis of Fish Fauna : The result of the present study revealed the occurrence of 8 fresh water fish species belonging to 5 genera and a single family Cyprinidae (Gara got yla gotyla, Schizothorax richardsonii, Cirrhinus mrigala mrigala, Tor putitora, Labeo boga, Labeo rohita, Labeo bata and Labeo dero) as shown in figure 3 - 10. Dominance of cyprinids particularly Tor p utitora and Schizothorax richardsonii was clearly expressed in glacierfed and snow - fed rivers Tawi of upper reaches. Dominance of cyprinidae family was reported in reservoirs 20 . Aver age number of fish species per catch is shown in the table 2. Among the recorded fish species, Gara gotyla gotyla had the high abundance in number of fish species per catch. All the four species of Labeo genera were very common during the present study. T he golden Mahseer ( Tor p utitora ) is an important game and food fish distributed well along the cold water Himalayan rivers. The native name Mahseer refers to its large scales and heads. Tor p utitora is a migratory fish and it attains a maximum weight up t o 25kg in 4 - 5 year. A12 kg golden Mahseer had been recorded during the present study. The adult fish is a column feeder and is omnivorous. Being a migratory fish, Tor putitora migrate to lower elevation in summer months and took reverse journey in winter m onths. Another migratory species Schizothorax richardsonii migrate from lower elevation to higher elevation in summer months and return to lower elevation in winter months. According to IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Tor putitora is listed among endangered fish species. The ecological status of golden Mahseer has been reported as endangered 21 - 23 . Moreover the population of Schizothorax richardsonii has seen a cont inuous decline due to overfishing and it is considered as Vulnerable species. During the present study Cirrhinus mrigala mrigala was very rarely found may be due to intolerable low water temperature. Table - 1 Monthly variations in the Physico - Chemical parameters of Chenani hydroelectric Reservoir during Sept. 2011 to Aug. 2012 Parameters Unit Sept Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Air temp. 0 C 28 31 30.6 16.5 17 16.5 28 29 33 37 34 33 Water temp. 0 C 23 22 21.5 9.7 10 9.9 11.5 14 19 24 23 23 Transparency cm 425 80 415 206 240 180 190 195 211 218 118 45 pH of water 8.6 8.3 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.6 8.5 8.3 8.5 8.6 8.5 8.3 FCO 2 mg/l 6.21 5.68 4.23 2.17 2.09 1.23 2.60 4.72 4.85 3.27 4.29 5.90 DO mg/l 4.82 5.88 8.16 9.54 9.58 9.39 9.24 8.84 8.64 7.11 6.11 5.81 Carbonates mg/l - - - - - - - - - - - - bicarbonates mg/l 88 102 94.6 103.8 130.8 149.8 122.2 145.2 133.4 131.4 127.4 129.8 Chloride mg/l 22.99 7.49 10.79 4.99 7.89 4.09 8.099 7.89 8.29 8.29 7.59 7.89 Calcium mg/l 75.6 46.20 59.01 73.50 68.67 26.57 27.08 71.19 78.54 80.64 86.10 88.2 Magnesium mg/l 73.6 66.77 72.66 102.13 48.8 66.07 65.56 46.30 42.51 44.20 21.87 20.36 Phosphate mg/l 0.108 0.144 0.139 0.110 0.126 0.10 0.14 0.216 0.121 0.142 0.211 0.319 Sulphate mg/l 0.036 0.020 0.011 0.080 0.121 0.09 0.019 0.027 0.021 0.033 0.053 0.063 Nitrate mg/l 0.139 0.231 0.151 0.116 0.123 0.109 0.125 0.127 0.164 0.161 0.217 0.283 International Research Journal of Environment Sciences_ ______________ _________________________ ______ ISSN 2319 – 1414 Vol. 2 ( 6 ), 8 - 12 , June (201 3 ) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci. International Science Congress Association 10 Table - 2 Monthly variations in the average number of fishes per catch from the study area S. No Name of species Family – Cyprinidae Average no. of fishes per catch/ month Sep Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug 1 Gara gotyla gotyla (Gray) 3.5 2.5 2.5 1.5 2 2.5 3 2.5 3 3.5 2 2 2 Schizothorax richardsoni (Gray) 0.5 0.5 1 1.5 2.5 3 3 2.5 3 3.5 3 3 3 Tor putitora (Hamilton - Buchanan) 1 1.5 1 0.5 0.5 1 0.5 0.5 1 0.5 3 3 4 Labeo boga (Hamilton - Buchanan) 2.5 1.5 2 2 2 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 2 2 2 5 Cirrhinus mrigala mrigala ( Hamilton Buchanan ) - - - - 0.5 1 1 1 0.5 - 1 1 6 Labeo rohita (Hamilton - Buchanan) - - - - 1 1.5 1.5 2 2 2 1.5 1 7 Labeo bata (Hamilton - Buchanan) - - - 1 1 1.5 1.5 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 2 8 Labeo dero (Hamilton - Buchanan) - - - 1 1 1 1.5 1 2 1 1.5 1.5 Figure - 1 Aerial view of the study site showing Chenani hydroelectric reservoir, its inlet and outlet Figure - 2 Monthly variations in the fish diversity, richness and evenness index’s of Chenani hydroelectric reservoir 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. Simpson index Shannon - Weiner Index Margalef's index Menhinick's index Pielou index International Research Journal of Environment Sciences_ ______________ _________________________ ______ ISSN 2319 – 1414 Vol. 2 ( 6 ), 8 - 12 , June (201 3 ) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci. International Science Congress Association 11 Figure - 3 Labeo bata Figure - 4 Gara gotyla Figure - 5 Schizothorax richardsoni Figure - 6 Labeo rohita Figure - 7 Labeo boga Figure - 8 Cirrhinus mrigala mrigala Figure - 9 Tor pitutora Figure - 10 Labeo dero International Research Journal of Environment Sciences_ ______________ _________________________ ______ ISSN 2319 – 1414 Vol. 2 ( 6 ), 8 - 12 , June (201 3 ) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci. International Science Congress Association 12 The values of Species Diversity Index, Species Richness index and Evenness in Chenani hydroelectric reservoir is given in figure 2. Species diversity was calculated by Simpson and Shannon - Weiner index. The value of Simpson index ranged between H’= 0.34 (March) to 1.48 (Nov.). The value of Shannon - Weiner index was higher (I= 1.81) in March and lower (I=0.96) in S ept. Species richness in term of Maraglef’s index and Menhinick’s index were calculated which varied between minimum valued R 1 = 0.71 (Sept.) to a maximum value R 1 = 2.07 (Aug.) and a minimum valued R 2 = 0.49 (Sept.) to a maximum value R 2 = 1.48 (August) res pectively. The minimum evenness value was observed in Nov. and maximum in Oct. the values being E = 0 and E= 0.96 respectively. From the analysis it is found that species diversity and richness were maximum in March 2012 and August 2012 respectively. Con clusion The present study revealed that the physico - chemical parameters of Chenani hydroelectric reservoir are in the permissible limit. Presence of Eight Fish species in the reservoir showed its productive status but in spite of that it is not used for commercial fish production. 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