Ichthyofaunaldiversity of two beels of GoalparaDistrict, Assam, India
Susmita Saha 1 & Sabitry Bordoloi 2
1 Dalgoma Higher Secondary School, Dalgoma, Goalpara, Assam 783125,
India
2 Resource
Management and Environment Division, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and
Technology, Paschim Boragaon,Guwahati, Assam 781035, India
Email: 2 sabitrybordoloi@rediffmail.com
Date of publication 26 April 2009
ISSN 0974-7907
(online) | 0974-7893 (print)
Editor: W. Vishwanath
Manuscript
details:
Ms # o1806
Received 11 June
2007
Final revised
received 16 December 2007
Finally accepted
21 February 2008
Citation: Saha, S. & S. Bordoloi(2009). Ichthyofaunal diversity of two beels of Goalpara District, Assam, India. Journal of
Threatened Taxa 1(4): 240-242.
Copyright:© S. Saha & S. Bordoloi2009. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 UnportedLicense. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article
in any medium for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by
providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.
In Assam,
floodplain wetlands are known as beels. Beels are highly
productive ecosystems that contribute to the fishery resources of the state,
and their socio-economic, commercial and ecological values are well
established. The present study is based
on a collection of fish (2005-2007) from Sidli Beel and Seksekia Beel of Goalpara District of
lower Assam (90096’-91005’E & 25024’-26054’N).
This is the first survey of ichthyofaunal diversity
in these beels, upon which the people of neighbouring villages depend for their livelihood.
The state of
Assam has the distinction of possessing a large number of floodplain wetlands
(Numbers = 3513, Area = 0.101 million ha) (ARSAC 1997), which account for
nearly 50% of the total floodplain wetland area (0.205 million ha) in
India. In terms of potential, the beels of Assam are capable of producing 50,000 tons of fish
per year (Dutta & Lahon1987). Dey(1981, 1984) studied the hydrobiology and productivity of some commercially
important beels of Kamrupdistrict of Assam. Lahon(1983) studied the limnology and fisheries of some commercial beels of Assam. Yadav (1987) and Yadav et al.
(1981, 1986, 1987) studied the various fishing methods used in beels. Das & Bordoloi (1997) recorded fish fauna in different ecological
zones in the Basistha River, KamrupDistrict, Assam which enrich the fish fauna of Deepar beel, Guwahati. Goswami et al.
(1999) studied eutrophication stresses in some
wetlands of Assam. Sen(2003) has summarised the threatened and endemic
fishes of northeastern India. Bordoloi & Baishya (2006)
recorded a fish Puntius ornatus from the beels in Hajo,Kamrup District, Assam that is a new record for the
Brahmaputra drainage
Description of
the study area
The fish fauna of
different segments of the Brahmaputra river varies
depending upon the feeding tributaries. Sidli and Seksekia beels are situated on the south bank of the river. The two beels are
connected by a channel, and Sidli Beelis connected to the river via Solmari channel. Before the great earthquake of 1950 the water
level in these beels was maintained year round, but
now the water level lowers during the winter season in the opinion of
villagers, and connection with the Brahmaputra is maintained only during the
monsoon. The Seksekia Beel has two parts; the southern part is known as
Bigger Seksekia and the northern as Smaller Seksekia.
Morphometry of Sidli Beel
Maximum
effective length 2.0km
(approx.)
Maximum
effective depth 1.5m
Maximum width 37.0m
Mean depth 1.4m
Morphometry of Bigger Seksekia Beel
Maximum
effective length 0.5km
(approx.)
Maximum
effective depth 1.5m
Maximum
width 38.0m
Mean
depth 1.2m
.
Morphometry of Smaller Seksekia Beel
Maximum
effective length 0.75km
(approx.)
Maximum
effective depth 1.0m
Maximum
width 30.0m
Mean
depth 0.8m
Materials and
Methods
Diversity of
fish fauna was monitored from 2005-2007 in Sidli and Seksekia beels. Recording was done at fortnightly
intervals. Common fishes were recorded in
the landing site, and a sample collection was made for certain species for
further laboratory confirmation. Landing
sites were monitored at weekly intervals for a period of two years, covering
pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. For identification and classifications, Talwar& Jhingran (1991) and Jayaram(1999) were followed, while nomenclature was based on Fishbase(2007). Important publications on fishes
of the northeastern region of India by Sarkar & Ponniah (2000) and Sen (2003)
were referred to. Specimens were
preserved in 6% formaldehyde solution.
Results and
Discussions
Table 1 presents
a list of all the fish recorded from Sidli and Seksekia beels. Scientific name, local name and conservation
status as per Freshwater Fish CAMP of India (Molur& Walker 1998) are compiled. Altogether, 59 species belonging to 40 genera,
19 families and eight orders have been recorded to date. A total of 17 riverinefishes were recorded, the rest are commonly found in lentichabitats. Fish from lotichabitats were: Gudusia chapra,Salmophasia bacaila, Barilius bendelisis, Cirrhinus reba,Catla catla, Labeo calbasu, Labeo bata, Labeo gonius, Labeo rohita, Wallago attu, Ompok pabda,Ailia coila, Clupisoma garua, Clupisoma montana, Semileptus gongota, Acanthocobitis botia and Labeo bata. Some of these fish find entry into the beels during floods, when Indian major carp also enter from
neighboring water bodies and culture ponds. As per Molur & Walker (1998), 13 species
are Vulnerable, 5 Endangered and 1 CriticallyEndangered nationally. Eleven species
are not evaluated in the CAMP workshop (Molur &
Walker 1998) have been recorded. Fishing
goes on throughout the year in these beels. In the surrounding area paddy fields are
present. Runoff water from these fields
finds entry into these beels.
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