Fish Biodiversity in Kafrikhal beel under Mithapukur Upazila, Rangpur, Bangladesh

Abstract

The present study was conducted to know the fish biodiversity in Kafrikhal beel under Mithapukur Upazila, Rangpur, Bangladesh. It was undertaken during the period of January to March 2011. A questionnaire had used to collect the key informations from 50 randomly selected fishermen from the study areas. The present study had revealed the presence of 54 species of fish from the Kafrikhal beel including 10 endangered and 7 critically endangered. Among the recorded 54 species; 15 species were abundant (27.78%), 13 species common (24.04%), 19 species less common (35.19%) and 7 species were rare (12.96%) respectively. Catfishes (24.07%) were the most dominant group followed by Carps (16.67%), Barbs (9.26%), Perches (12.96%), Snakeheads (87.40%), Eels (5.55%), Minnows (3.70%), Clupeids (3.70%) and Miscellaneous (16.67%) respectively. It will be very helpful to identify areas of high fish biodiversity and to mitigate the loss of fish biodiversity in the Kafrikhal beel.