Diversity and Distribution of Fish Fauna of Indus River at Taunsa Barrage in Punjab, Pakistan
Diversity and Distribution of Fish Fauna of Indus River at Taunsa Barrage in Punjab, Pakistan
Haji Muhammad, Zafar Iqbal* and Saira Saleemi
ABSTRACT
The present study was conducted to determine the fish fauna of Indus River at Taunsa Barrage, situated in South Punjab Pakistan. The survey was conducted from September 2013 to August, 2014 at eight sampling sites to ascertain fish diversity and their distribution pattern. A total 2249 fish specimen were collected using a variety of fish nets and identifications of these fishes were made by using standard taxanomic keys on the basis of morphometric characters. Seventy species belonging to 43 genera and 17 families were recorded from the study area of Indus River. Thirty two species were commercially important. Alpha Diversity Indices study showed that fish diversity of the River was quite rich (species richness, 70) and diverse, (Shannon’s index=3.66), (Simpson-D=0.96), Evenness was also high (Evenness (H/S) =0.55) and Chao-1 (70.75). The Quadrate diversity Indices were applied to the data and Bootstrap replicates mean values of the following indices were recorded as Chao 2 (70.8), Jackknife 1 (72.9), Jackknife 2 (71.9) and Bootstrap (70.17). The study further indicated that the population of many endemic and commercially important fish species has declined while the exotic family Cichlidae representative of three species (Oreochromis mossambicus, Oreochromis aureus and Oreochromis niloticus) has become well established in the study area. Similarly the population of exotic common carp (Cyprinus carpio) also seems to be established in the Indus River.
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