INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Volume 5, No 6, Copyright by the authors - Licensee IPA- Under Creative Commons license 3.

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1 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENL SCIENCES Volume 5, No 6, 205 Copyright by the authors - Licensee IPA- Under Creative Commons license 3.0 Research article ISSN Study of fish diversity and physico-chemical parameters of river Singla, Assam, India Satyajit Das, Biplab Kumar Das, Devashish Kar Department of Life Science and Bioinformatics, Assam University, Silchar 7880, Assam, India biplabkumar987@gmail.com doi:0.6088/ijes ABSTRACT A total of 6 species of fishes belonging to 2 genera, 5 orders and families were collected from the Singla River. Among them Order Cypriniformes (3%) and (3%) were found to be the most abundant and Beloniformes (6%) the least. Certain physicochemical parameters viz., Water colour, Water Temperature, Dissolve Oxygen (DO), Free Carbon dioxide (FCO2), Total Alkalinity (), ph etc. of the river were recorded during the month from December 202 to May 203. The results revealed low DO and high free CO2. Conclusively all these parameters were found to be not very healthy for the aquatic biota. Keywords: River, fishes, physico-chemical, Singla, Assam, India.. Introduction India is one of the Mega biodiversity countries in the World and occupies 9 th position in terms of freshwater Mega biodiversity (Goswami and Goswami, 2006). In India, there are c 2500 species of fishes; of which, c 930 live in freshwater (FW) and c 570 are marine (Kar, 2003, Kar, 203). This bewildering ichthyo-diversity of this region has been attracting many ichthyologists both from India and abroad. Concomitantly, North-Eastern region of India has been identified as a Hotspot of Biodiversity by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC, 998). This rich diversity of this region could be assigned to certain reasons, notably, the geomorphology and the tectonics of this zone (Das and Kar 20 and Das et al. 203). The hills and the undulating valleys of this area gives rise to large number of torrential hill streams, which lead to big rivers; and, finally, become part of the Ganga- Brahmaputra-Barak-Chindwin-Kolodyne-Gomati-Meghna system (Kar, 2000). River Singla originates from Mizoram hill at a height of 365.2m MSL as Thing Tlwang Lui, and drops in Sonebeel. The River Singla enters to Sone Beel after traversing a meander course of 62.75km and joins to river Kushiara at Karimganj through river Kachua after covering a length about km.during the course of present study, I had visited to different regions of the upstream river in and around Karimganj and Mizoram border viz. village Rongpur, Borobhubi, Chutobubi which are about km away from district Karimganj. I had also visited to other places in and around Mizoram viz. Kalamagura, Lalkanai, Kalagang, Luchaichora and Ripho. There is almost no published record on of fish diversity and physico-chemical parameters of Single River except some works done by (Kar et al., 987, 990, 2000, 2007). However, the present study reveals the recent status of the River Single. Received on January 205 Published on May

2 2. Methodology General survey of the Fish Biodiversity was done using standard procedures (Armontrout, 990) and also, (NBFGR, 2000) was consulted for studying the habitat parameters Headwater to downstream studies were based on River Continuum Concept. Spatial heterogeneity of river channel across small to large spatial scales, longitudinal (upstream and downstream) and lateral (stream margin/mid-channel) dimensions were studied. Fish samples were collected through experimental fishing using caste nets (dia.3.7 m and.0 m), gill nets (vertical height.0 m-.5 m; length 00 m -50 m), drag nets (vertical height 2.0 m), triangular scoop nets (vertical height.0 m) and a variety of traps. Camouflaging technique was also used to catch the fishes. Fishes have been preserved at first in concentrated formaldehyde in the field itself and then in 40 % formalin. Fishes have been identified after standard literature (Menon, 999; Talwar and Jhingran, 99; Jayaram, 999). Yield statistics were extrapolated (Dey and Kar, 990; Kar, 990) from daily catch statistics recorded at the landing stations (FAO, 986) while the trend and cyclic variations were constructed by applying 2 months moving average method (Coxton and Cowden, 950; Kar, 2007 and Kar, 203). The physico-chemical parameters had been studied with the help of precision equipment s and by following standard procedures: (APHA, 200). 3. Results and discussion Species richness in a region is governed by a number of biotic and abiotic factors which operate at different spatial and temporal scales. These could be large scale factors (e.g., speciation, dispersal, etc.,) or small scale factors (e.g., competition, disturbance, predation, etc.). These biotic as well as abiotic factors act together in regulating the local species richness. After the brief study the fish diversity of the River Singla is found to be all together 6 species of fish belonging to 2 genera, 5order and families have been identified in the study area. Of these species, the dominant species belongs to the order Cypriniformes and and the Beloniformes is found to the least. The DO is found to be the highest (6.3mg/L) in the month of May in the downstream and least (4.8 mg/l) in the month of March in the upstream. FCO2 is highest (7.9mg/L) in the month of March in the mid-stream and least (4.4mg/L) in the month of March in the downstream. Table (a): The Physico-chemical parameters in the upstream of River Singla Paramet Mea St. Dec Jan Feb Mar April May S.E. ers n Dev. Water Green Green Greeni Greeni Greeni Greeni colour ish ish sh sh sh sh Water 22.8 ±2.6 ±0.8 Temp.( C) DO(mg/ l) FCO2( mg/l) ph (mg/l) ± ±0.50 ± ±3.06 ± ± ±0. 56 ±.2 49 Sam Error ± ± ± ± ±.56 4

3 Table (b): The Physico-chemical parameters in the upstream of River Singla Parameters Temperature DO FCO2 ph Temperature * DO * FCO ph 0.990** * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level. ** Correlation is significant at the 0.0 level. Figure: Graphical representation of variation of physico-chemical parameters in the upstream of the River Singla with time (Months) Table 2(a): The Physico-chemical parameters in the mid-stream of River Singla. Table 2 (b): The Physico-chemical parameters in the mid-stream of River Singla. Parameters Temparature DO FCO2 ph Temparature DO

4 FCO ph.972 ** *Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level. ** Correlation is significant at the 0.0 level. Figure 2: Graphical representation of variation of physico-chemical parameters in the midstream of the River Singla with time (Months) Table 3 (a): The Physico-chemical parameters in the downstream of River Singla. Correlation Table 3 (b): The Physico-chemical parameters in the downstream of River Singla. Correlation Parameters Temparature DO FCO2 ph Temparature DO ** FCO ph * *Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level. ** Correlation is significant at the 0.0 level. 43

5 Figure 3: Graphical representation of variation of physico-chemical parameters in the downstream of the River Singla with time (Months). Sl. No. 2 Table 4: Fishes that are recorded in River Singla Name of the fish Common species name Order Amblypharyngodon mola Moka Cypriniformes Puntius chola Puthi Cypriniformes 3 Puntius ticto Puthi Cypriniformes Family 4 Puntius sophore Puthi Cypriniformes 5 Lepidocephalus guntea Gutum Cypriniformes Cobitidae 6 Xenentodon cancila Kakia Beloniformes Balantidae 7 Eutropiichthys vacha Vacha 8 Mystus bleekeri Tengra 9 Mystus vittatus Tengra 0 Clarius batrachus Magur Schilbeidae Bagridae Bagridae Claridae Heteropneustes fossilis Singhi Heteropneustidae 2 Glossogobius giuris Baligora Perciformes Gobiidae 3 Channa punctate Cheng Perciformes Channidae 4 Nandus nandus Bhada Perciformes Nandidae 5 Mastacembalus Mastacembelidae Baing Synbranchiformes armatus 6 Mastacembalus Synbranchiformes Mastacembelidae Baing pancalus 44

6 Figure 4: Graphical representation of the fish diversity of River Singla belonging to different orders. 4. References. APHA. (200), American Public Health Association Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, Sixteen Edition, Washington, USA, pp Armontrout N. B. (990), Aquatic habitat inventory, Bureau of Land Management, Eugene District, USA, pp Das B. K., and Kar D. (20), Habitat Mapping, Spatial Analysis to Fish Diversity of River Subansiri during Winter Season in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh (India). Environment and Ecology. 29 (4A), pp Das B. K, Kar S and Kar D. (202), Studies on Intensity of Cestodes Parasite Infecting Monopterus cuchia in Cachar District, Assam. Biological Forum- An International Journal. 4 (2), pp Das B. K, Dutta B, Kar S, Boruah P and Kar D. (203), Icthyofauna of Subansiri River in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, India. International Journal of Current Research. 5, (), pp Das B K, Boruah P and Kar D. (204), Study of Seasonal Variation of Water Quality of River Siang in Arunachal Pradesh, India. IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology (IOSR-JESTFT). 8 (2IV), pp Coxton F. E and Cowden D. J. (950), Applied General Statistics, pp. 944, Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons (London). 8. FAO. (986), Report of the sixth session of the committee for Inland Fishery Resources. FAO. Fisheries Technical Paper 8, pp Goswami T. K and Goswami M. M. (2006), Icthyo faunal diversity and catch stastics of Jamlai wetland in Kamrup District of Assam, India. Journal Inland Fish Soc. India, 38(2): pp Jayaram K. C. (999), The freshwater fishes of the Indian region, Narendra Publishing House, Delhi, India. 55 pp. 45

7 . Kar D and Dey S. C. (987), an account of the Fish and Fisheries of Lake Sone in the Barak Valley of Assam (India). Proceedings of Workshop Development of Beel Fisheries in Assam: pp Kar D, Dey S. C and Roy A. (987), An overview of fish genetic diversity of Northeastern India, pp In: Garg S.K.; Jain K.L.; Proceedings of National Workshop on Rational use of Water Resource for Aquaculture, pp8-9 March 2004, CCS Haryana Agricultural University. 3. Kar D, Dey S. C, Michael R. G, Kar S and Changkija S. (990), Studies of fish epidemics from Assam, India. Journal of Indian Fisheries Association 20, pp Kar D. (2000), Present status of fish biodiversity in South Assam and Tripura, pp In: Ponniah, A.G.; Sarker U.K.; (Eds). Fish Biodiversity of Northeastern India. NBFGR-NATP Publication No 2, Luckhnow, p Kar D, Laskar B. A, Nath D, Mandal M and Lalsiamliiana. (2002), Tor progenies (McClelland) under threat in river Jatinga, Assam. Science and Culture 68 (7-8), pp Kar D. (2003), An account of the fish biodiversity in South Assam, Mizoram and Tripura along with a brief account of Epizootic Ulcerative Fish Disease Syndrome in Freshwater fishes. Proceeding of the UGC- Sponsored Invited Lecture in Department of Environmental Engineering, Guru Jamdeswar University, Hissar, Haryana, pp Kar D and Sen N. (2007), Systematics list and distribution of fish biodiversity in Mizoram, Tripura and Barak drainage in North East India. Zoos print Journal 22(3), pp Kar D. (2007), Fundamentals of Limnology and Aquaculture Biotechnology. Daya Publishing House. New Delhi. India. Xiv + p Kar D. (203), Wetlands and Lakes of the World, pp.xxx + 687, Springer (London). 20. Menon A. G. K. (999), Checklist: Freshwater Fishes of India. Occasional paper No.- 75, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. p NBFGR Manual. (2000), Manual on Habitat and Biological Inventory under NATP (National Agricultural Technology Project) Programme, Germplasm Inventory, Evaluation and Gene Banking of Freshwater Fishes, pp. 26, National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (ICAR) (Lucknow) and Assam (Central) University (Silchar). 22. Talwar P. K, Jhingran A. G. (99), Inland Fishes or India and Adjacent Countries, Vol I and Vol& II. Oxford and IBH Co, Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi. 23. WCMC. (998), Freshwater Biodiversity: A Preliminary Global Assessment. A document prepared for the 4 th meeting of the conference of the Practices to the convention of Biological Diversity. World Conservation Monitoring Centre. 46