Fish biodiversity in the water bodies of Samaspur bird sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh: Towards developing freshwater aquatic sanctuary

Abstract

Extensive surveys were conducted in Samaspur Bird Sanctuary (799.37 ha), Uttar Pradesh during June 2000 to December 2004, to explore the status of fish germplasm resources in the water bodies. A total of 3,444 fish were collected and classified into 7 orders, 19 families, 33 genera and 46 species. One exotic species (n=2) Aristichthys nobilis was collected. This is the first ichthyofaunal report of this Sanctuary. The dominant species was Gudusia chapra (relative abundance, 7.25%) and the subdominant species were Labeo bata (RA, 6.67%), Salmostoma bacaila (RA, 5.51%), Amblypharyngodon mola (RA, 5.08%), Notopterus notopterus (RA, 4.50%) and Eutropiichthys vacha (RA, 3.91%). The analysis showed that 28.26% of fish species, which are reported to be threatened as per IUCN, had a stable population in the Sanctuary. Apart from the major Indian carps and the above-mentioned species, the important species recorded were Chitala chitala, Clupisoma garua, Ailia coila, Aorichthys aor, Wallago attu, Labeo gonius, Labeo pangusia, Puntius sarana, Rhinomugil corsula, Channa marulius, Channa striatus, Ompok pabda and Ombok pabo. The study confirms that protected freshwater areas are important for conservation of regional fish biodiversity, especially for local and endangered fish species .