Jagannath University Journal of Life and Earth Sciences, 4(1): 12 – 24, 2018 ISSN 2414-1402 STATUS AND DIVERSITY OF ICHTHYOFAUNA OF JAMUNA RIVER, BANGLADESH Mst. Nahida Easmin, AHM Shafiullah Habib*, Shimu Akter and Keya Majumder Department of Zoology, Jagannath University, Dhaka-1100, Bangladesh Abstract An investigation was made in Jamuna River of Pabna district from May 2016 to April 2017 to assess the diversity of ichthyofauna. A total of 77 species were recorded under 10 orders 25 families and 54 genera. Cypriniformes was recorded as dominant order comprising 36% of the total, followed by Siluriformes (27%), Perciformes (17%) and Clupeiformes (7%). The lowest species composition was less than 1% belonging 3 orders, Anguiliformes, Synbranchiformes and Tetraodontiformes. According to IUCN (2015) status 23% of found species was threatened, comprising 1% Critically Endangered (CR), 12% Endangered (EN) and 10% Vulnerable (VU) in nature. However only 3% were found Vulnerable (VU) globally during the study period. Annual values of Shannon diversity index (H), Simpson index (), Margalef’s richness index (D) and Pielou’s evenness index (E) were 3.35, 0.053, 6.931 and 0.772 respectively. Considering all findings this study emphasized the establishment of proper management strategy for the improvement of biodiversity and retaining good environment of the river. Key words: Jamuna River, fish fauna, diversity status, diversity indices. Introduction In Bangladesh, more than 700 rivers and their tributaries bear the 24,140 km of water ways and opens huge scope for fisheries. The Jamuna River is one of the three main rivers of Bangladesh. It is the main distributary channel of the Brahmaputra River as it flows from India into Bangladesh. The river flows towards south and joins the Padma River near Goalando Ghat, before meeting the Meghna River near Chandpur. It further flows to the Bay of Bengal as the Meghna River. The diverse aquatic habitats in Bangladesh support a wide variety of fishes. The total number of freshwater fish species occurring in Bangladesh compiled as 265 species (Rahman 2005). Bangladesh is the third freshwater fish producing country in the world (FAO, 2018). About 3793 metric tons of fish are obtained from Jamuna River during 2016-2017 (DoF, 2017). Throughout the last century, riverine ecosystems have suffered from intense human intervention resulting in habitat loss and degradation and as a consequence, many fish species have become highly endangered, particularly in rivers where heavy demand is placed on fresh-waters (Rahman et al., 2012). However, according to IUCN (2015) a total 64 species have been found threatened, comprising 25.3% of 253 fish species were assessed. Among them 9 species assessed as Critically * Corresponding author, Email: [email protected] 12 Easmin et al Endangered (CR) 30 species as Endangered (EN) and 25 species as Vulnerable (VU). A total of 27 species were assessed as Near Threatened (NT), 122 species as Least Concern (LC) and the rest 40 species were considered as data deficient (DD). No fish was found as extinct or regionally Extinct. There are also different works on status of freshwater fish and diversity of fishes in Bangladesh as like Galib et al. (2009), Azadi et al. (2013), Galib et al. (2013), Hossain et al. (2013), Islam et al. (2016), Joadder et al. (2015), Gain et al. (2015), Habib et al. (2016). All of these works, made checklist of fish, shown conservation status of fish and diversity of fishes. But all of these are lacking analyses of diversity indices except Galib et al. (2013) and Hossain et al. (2013). In order to conserve biodiversity in a given area, we need to be able to understand how diversity is affected by different management strategies. Because diversity indices provide more information than simply the number of species present (that is, they account for some species being rare and others being common), they serve as valuable tools that provide important information on rarity and commonness of species in a community. The ability to quantify the diversity in this way is an important tool for biologists trying to understand community structure (Beals et al., 2000). In this study, Jamuna River had been selected for addressing its contribution in fisheries resources in Bangladesh. This work was done to quantify the status and diversity of fishes of the Jamuna River of Bangladesh. Material and Methods Two sites of Jamuna River at Bera Upazila under Pabna District have been selected for collecting fish specimens. The two points were the Kazirhat Launch Ghat (23.88288° N and 89.6708° E) and the Nagarbari Ghat (23.947208° N, 89.652662° E) (Figure 1). The present study was conducted for one year from May 2016 and continued to April 2017. Data were collected once in each month usually in the last week from 6 am to 10 am. Some of the fishes were identified during the field visit. The unidentified fishes were collected and preserved in 4-6 % buffered formalin solution for further laboratory study at the Fisheries Laboratory Department of Zoology at the Jagannath University. For determination of species composition, the following formula was used for counting small fish which were very easy to count: 푁푠 × 푊푡 푁 = 푊푠 Where, Wt = Total weight of small fish found, Ws = Weight of subsample, and Ns = Number of individual small fish in each subsample. These specimens were identified according their morphometric and meristic characteristics following Bhuiyan (1964), Rahman (2005) and Talwar and Jhingran (1991). After identification, 13 Status and diversity of ichthyofauna of Jamuna River Figure 1. Two points of Jamuna River alongside of the Pabna district. fish were systematically arranged according to Nelson (2006). Threatened status of the fishes was evaluated in accordance with the Red List of IUCN Bangladesh (2015). Three criteria were considered as threatened viz. Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) and Vulnerable (VU). To understand the seasonal diversity of fish month wise data were collected and preserved properly. In this study, the diversity, richness and evenness were estimated for understanding the status of diversity of fish in Jamuna River. As a measure of diversity, the most popular and widely used Shannon’s diversity index (H) and Simpson’s index () were used. On the other hand, Margalef’s richness index (D) and Pielou’s evenness index (E) were used for investigating richness and evenness of fish. The using formulas were: Shannon-Weaver diversity index, H = – Pi × lnPi (Shannon-Weaver, 1949) Simpson index, = Pi2 (Simpson, 1949) Margalef”s richness index, D = (S–1) / ln(N) (Margalef, 1968) Pielou’s evenness index, E = H / ln(S) (Pielou, 1966) 14 Easmin et al Where, H and is the diversity index , Pi is the relative abundance, N is the total number of species, D is the richness index, S is the total number of species, E is the similarity or evenness index and ln is the natural logarithm. Results and Discussion After yearlong a total of 77 numbers of species were identified from Jamuna River under 10 orders 25 families and 54 genera. Among identified 77 species, 59% was Least Concern (LC), 23% threatened including 1% Critically Endangered (CR), 12% Endangered (EN) and 10% Vulnerable (VU). 5% Exotic fish was also recorded during the study period locally (Figure 3). Among the identified species 4% was vulnerable (VU), 70% was Least Concern (LC), 1% was Data Deficient (DD) and 5% Exotic (Figure 5). Table1. Fish fauna of Jamuna River with their status during the study period. Order Family Scientific Name Local Name English Name Local Global Status Status Osteoglossiformes Notopteridae 1. Chitala chitala Chital Clown Knife EN NT Fish 2. Notopterus Foli Bronge VU LC notopterus Feather-back Anguiliformes Ophichthidae 3. Pisodonophis boro Kharu, Hizra Rice Paddy Eel LC LC Clupeiformes Clupeidae 4. Corica soborna Kachki Ganges River LC LC Spral 5. Pellona ditchela Choukka Indian Pellona LC LC 6. Tenualosa ilisha Ilish Hilsha Shad LC NE Engraulidae 7. Gudusia chapra Chapila Indian River VU LC Shad 8. Setipinna phasa Phasa Gangatic LC LC Hairfin Anchovy Channiformes Channidae 9. Channa punctata Taki Spotted LC LC Snahehead 10. Channa striatus Shol Snakehed LC LC Murrel 11. Channa marulius Gajar Great EN LC Snakehead Cypriformes Cyprinidae 12. Amblypharyngodon Mola, Moa Mola Carplet LC LC mola 13. Cabdio morar Morar, Morari Aspidopara VU NE 14. Barbonimus Thai Java Barb Exotic Exotic gonionotus Sarpunti 15 Status and diversity of ichthyofauna of Jamuna River Order Family Scientific Name Local Name English Name Local Global Status Status 15. Gibelion catla Catla, Katal Catla LC NE 16. Cirrhinus cirrhosus Mrigal, Mirka Mrigal Carp NT VU 17. Cirrhinus reba Bhangna, Reba NT LC Tatkini 18. Cyprinus carpio var. Carpu, Common Carp Exotic Exotic nudus Carphu 19. Esomus danrica Darkina, Flying Barb LC LC Darka 20. Hypophthalmichthys Silver Carp Silver Carp Exotic Exotic molitrix 21. Labeo bata Bata Bata Labeo LC LC 22. Labeo calbasu Kalibaus Orange Fin LC LC Labeo 23. Labeo gonius Ghannya Kuria Labeo NT LC 24. Labeo rohita Rui Rohu Carp LC LC 25. Osteobrama cotio Keti, Dhela Cotia NT LC 26. Puntius chola Chala Punti Swamp Barb LC LC 27.Pethia conchonius Kanchan Rosy Barb LC LC Punti 28. Systomus sarana Sar Punti Olive Barb NT LC 29. Puntius sophore Jat Punti Spotfin Swamp LC LC Barb 30. Pethia ticto Tit Punti Two-spot Barb VU LC 31. Puntius terio Teri Punti One Spot Barb LC LC 32. Rasbora daniconius Darkina Common LC LC Rasbora 33. Salmostoma bacaila Narkali chela Large Razorbely LC LC Minnow 34.Securicula gora Ghora-chela Gora-chela NT LC Balitoridae 35. Acanthocobitis botia Balichata Sand Loach LC LC Cobitidae 36. Botia dario Rani Bengal loach EN LC 37. Botia lohachata Rani, Putul Y-loach EN NE 38. Lepidochephalichthys Gutum, Guntea Loach LC LC guntea Puiya 39.