Present status and diversity of ichthyofauna at five selected sites of the Gomti River, Lucknow (India)

Abstract

Anthropogenic activities affect aquatic habitats leading to loss of many species as well as bring changes in the species composition of some regions. Therefore, ichthyofaunal diversity studies are essential for sustainable management. An exploratory study regarding the ichthyofauna of the river Gomti at Lucknow has been done which is presented in this paper. In total 61 icthyospecies belonging to 18 families and 8 orders were caught. Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Cyprinus carpio, Clarias gariepinus and Ctenopharyngodon idella were the exotic fish species in the Gomti River. The study revealed that there were noteworthy variations found in the ichthyofaunal diversity indices among five different selected sampling sites. Cypriniformes emerged out as the dominant order at all the selected sites. The present study shows that in spite of high pollution level, numbers of fishes were found satisfactory in most of the selected sites of this river.