Current status of fish fauna at head Khanki, river Chenab, Pakistan
Paper Details
Current status of fish fauna at head Khanki, river Chenab, Pakistan
Abstract
Present study was conducted to access fish diversity at head Khanki situated on river Chenab, Punjab, Pakistan. Various fishing techniques were employed to capture maximum number of fish species from the sampling sites during the period September 2015 to May 2016. A total of 1029 fish specimens belonging to 34 species, 28 genera, 12 families and six orders were recorded from the study area. Order Siluriformes was found dominant contributing five families (41.7%) followed by Perciformes contributing three families (25%) to the present collection. On the basis of number and percentage contribution family Cyprinidae was found dominant contributing 14 genera (50%) and 18 species (52.9%). Overall fish catches were dominated with indigenous species along with four exotic species Cyprinus carpio, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Hypophthalmicthyus molitrix and Oreochromis niloticus. The values for Shannon-Weaver diversity (H’), Margalef’s richness and Pielou’s (E) evenness indices were 3.30, 10.9 and 0.94 respectively. Various anthropogenic stresses such as aquatic pollution, habitat destruction, and introduction of alien species are responsible for low fish species diversity and evenness at head Khanki. Effective conservation measures are strongly recommended to sustain the populations of commercially important fishes in this river.
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