Current status of ichthyofaunal diversity of various water sources of western Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Fishes constitute an economically important group of vertebrate. These constitutes an important group and are very useful in biological researches. The present study has been conducted on different water bodies of Western Uttar Pradesh, India. The aim of this investigation was to identify fish diversity in water bodies (ponds, river& its tributaries) and also documentation of all the available species inhabiting this region. The results revealed the occurrence of 61 fish species belonging to 38 different genera, 19 different families and 9 different orders. The order Cypriniformes was dominant with 23 species followed by Siluriformes with 15 species, Perciformes (8 species), Clupeiformes (4 species), Ophiocephaliformes (4 species), Beloniformes (2 species), Mastacembaliformes (2 species), Tetrodontiformes (2 species) and Mugiliformes (one specie). Cyprinids and Silurids found to be numerically abundant and also showed high species richness. There is no documentary record available of the present study area till date regarding its aquatic fauna.