The Freshwater Fish Diversity in theThe Freshwater Fish Diversity in the Tributaries of River Ramganga in the Shiwaliks of the Western HimalayaShiwaliks of the Western Himalaya

Vidyadhar AtkoreVidyadhar Atkore

SupervisorsSupervisorsDr. K. Sivakumar & Dr. A.J.T. Johnsingh

INTRODUCTION

• Studies on fish ecology –Africa, S. America, A t li N Z l dAustralia, New ZealandIndia, SriLanka, Nepal

• 21,723 species of fish found in the world, of

hi h (8 411) 11%which (8,411) 11% are freshwater

• 2,500 sp of fishes found in India, out of which 930 (40%) are freshwater sp(40%) are freshwater sp

THREATS TO FRESHWATER FISHES

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• What is the species diversity andWhat is the species diversity and composition in the Ramganga tributaries?

• How freshwater fishes are distributed?

• What is the population status of these fishes?

METHODOLOGY• Fishing net –

1 x 1 cm mesh size with 2 75 kg1 x 1 cm mesh size with 2.75 kgsampling - 9 am to 5 pm

• Species identification –Talwar & Jhingran (1991), Srivastava (1980), HusainSrivastava (1980), Husain (1995)

• Softwares -EstimateS & Ecosim version 7.0EstimateS & Ecosim version 7.0 for calculating species diversity

STUDY RIVERS IN UTTARAKHAND

Lansdowne Forest Division

Khoh river

Lansdowne Forest Division

Kolhu river

Khoh river

Gujjar dera

Saneh village

Corbett National Park

Mandal river

Maidavan

Domunda

Corbett National Park

Ramganga river

RESULTSRESULTS

FISH DIVERSITY

Individuals 12,330Species 43Orders 5Orders 5Families 9

FAMILY DOMINANCE

3Unknown

1

1

Gobidae

Belonidae

4

3

1

N h ili

Cobitidae

Mastacembalidae

Fam

ily

2

2

4

Sisoridae

Channidae

Nemacheilinae

3

23

2

Balitoridae

Cyprinidae

Sisoridae

0 5 10 15 20 25

Number of species

IN ORDER OF DOMINANCE

Garra gotyla Botia rostrata H l t i l

Cyprinidae Nemacheilinae Balitoridae

Botia rostrata Homaloptera rupicola

Cobitidae Sissoridae Mastacembalidae

Nemacheilus rubdipinnis Glyptothorax pectinopterus Mastacembalus armatus

Cobitidae Mastacembalidae

Channidae Belonidae GobidaeChanna gachua Xenentodon cancila Glossogobius girius

FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION8

6

7

s

4

5

mbe

r of s

peci

es

2

3Num

0

1

1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024 2048 4096 8192

Abundances

OVERALL SPECIES ABUNDANCES

0.3

0.35

Common

0.25

0.15

0.2

Rare

0.1

0

0.05

Brostra

taBbarn

aBsharc

aCcatl

aCgach

uaGgotyla

Gpectin

opterus

Gcolour

Hrupeco

laLdyo

cheilu

sMarm

atus

Ngarhwali

Blohachata

Nrubidipi

nnisOmpak

?Pso

phoreRbola

Srichrd

sonii

Tchyli

noidesTputito

raPvit

tatus

Xcancil

a

ESTIMATED SPECIES RICHNESS by Jackknife Method

37.8540

45at

e

31.7934.09

30

35

ness

est

ima

20

25

spec

ies

richn

10

15

ackk

nife

1 s

0

5

J

Khoh Kolhu Mandal

EstimateS version 7.0 by Colwell (2005)

4 5Kolhu

Khoh15

4 53

15

54

Mandal

7 SIMILARITY IN COMPOSITION7 COMPOSITION

HOW SIMILAR ARE RIVERS ?HOW SIMILAR ARE RIVERS ?

S ’ Si il it I dSorenson’s Similarity Index…..

• Khoh- Kolhu 70.58 %

• Kolhu- Mandal 61.81%

• Mandal- Khoh 64.28%

CURRENT STATUS IN THE TRIBUTARIES

100%

60%

80%

40%

60%

0%

20%

0%Khoh Kolhu Mandal

RiRi v e r sVery Rare Rare Not Very Common Common

THREATENED SPECIES (CAMP)

• Vulnerable 9Vulnerable 9• Endangered 5

LR t 13• LRnt 13• DD 1• NA 15

SUMMARY

• Total 43 species recorded of which 28 sp were threatened and 15 sp were in NOT ASSESSED tASSESSED category

U di t b d M d l i h d th i• Undisturbed Mandal river had the maximum species recorded

• Family Cyprinidae dominated followed by Nemacheilinae

• Current status- 5 sp not very common; 3 sp common; 1 sp rare & 34 sp very rare

IMPLICATIONS

• Creating awareness, controlling illegal fishing are recommended

• Long term studies required to know detail• Long-term studies required to know detail community structure of these rivers

• All rivers found to be excellent breeding grounds for cold water fishes and Golden mahseer in particular.

K lh d Kh h b d li• Kolhu and Khoh can be a good angling destinations if provided good protection.

Icthyofaunal diversity of

Shivalik HimalayaShivalik Himalaya

Indian Trout - VulnerableIndian Trout Vulnerable

Raimas bolaRaimas bola

Gotyla -Vulnerable

Garra gotyla

Golden Mahseer - EndangeredGolden Mahseer - Endangered

Tor putitoraTor putitora

Y- Loach - EndangeredY Loach Endangered

Botia lohachata

Stone sucker- LrntStone sucker Lrnt

Gl t th t l hittGlyptothorax telchitta

Snow trout - Lrnt

Schizothorax progastus

Tank Goby- LrntTank Goby- Lrnt

Gl bi i iGlossogobius girius

Freshwater Garfish - LrntFreshwater Garfish - Lrnt

Xenentodon cancila

Chaguni – Yet to assessg

Chagunius chagunio

Black Mahseer – Yet to assess

Tor chylinoides

Spiny eel – Yet to assessSpiny eel Yet to assess

Mastcembalus armatusMastcembalus armatus

Spotted Snake head – Yet to assess

Channa gachuaChanna gachua

Many questions are yet to answerMany questions are yet to answer• Is there any seasonal variation in species

composition?composition?• Does the use of different gears really affect fish

catch?catch?• What are the key habitat factors which determine

the diversity of these fishesthe diversity of these fishes• What is the future of NOT ASSESSED fishes?• How habitat destruction affect the fish• How habitat destruction affect the fish

composition?• How can we minimize the level of threats to theseHow can we minimize the level of threats to these

fishes?

Acknowledgement• CWW UttaranchalCWW, Uttaranchal• Director, WII• Dr. Karthikeyan Vasudevan

M R h Ch d DFO L d F t Di i i• Mr. Ramesh Chandra, DFO Lansdowne Forest Division• Directors, Corbett National Park• Dr. V.D. Joshi, HOD Dept Zoology, Govt P.G. Collage,

K dKotdwar.• Dr. Uniyal, Fishery Biologist, ZSI, Deharadun• Hari, Rohit, Abishek, Amit, Rishi, Tamo, Chandrima, , , , , ,• Rashid, Ramesh, Jaypal, Asgar, Sabya, Pankaj, Patrick• Padma, Swati, Poonam, Fauzia• Bahadur Bhaskar Ramzani Guddu• Bahadur, Bhaskar, Ramzani, Guddu• My family members• Director, BNHS

Thank You