ORNAMENTAL FISHES IN ROWMARI FLOODPLAIN WETLAND, DARRANG DISTRICT, ASSAM

ORNAMENTAL FISHES IN ROWMARI FLOODPLAIN WETLAND, DARRANG DISTRICT, ASSAM Seema Jyoti 1 and Amalesh Dutta 2 1 Research Scholar, Department of Zoology, Gauhati University, Assam, India. Email: jyoti.seema@rediffmail.com, 2 Professor, Department of Zoology, Gauhati University, Assam, India. ABSTRACT Rowmari Beel is an important freshwater riverine registered floodplain wetland of Darrang district which is rich in ornamental fish diversity. The present investigation was carried out during 2009-2011.Floodplain wetlands are locally known as Beels in Assam and they constitute vitally important fishery resource of Assam. There are 1392 floodplain wetlands in Assam of which 423 are registered and 969 are unregistered which are rich in icthyofaunal diversity. Darrang District has 103 numbers of wetland of which registered beels are 28 covering 6459 ha. The present investigation shows availability of 50 numbers of ornamental fishes belonging to 9 orders and 20 families of which family dominates showing 11 numbers of species.of the 50 number of ornamental fishes, about 30 numbers are classified ornamental fishes. CAMP (1998) and IUCN (2013) status of each fishes is listed out. KEYWORDS: Rowmari beel, Ornamental fishes, Threats, Conservation status. T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 11

INTRODUCTION The wetlands are considered as one of the most important ecosystems of the world. Not only are they unique ecosystems but storehouses of great biodiversity. The wetlands are sometimes described as the kidneys of the landscape for the functions they perform in hydrologic and chemical cycles and as the downstream receivers of wastes from both natural and human sources (Mitsch and Gosselink, 1986). Floodplain wetlands locally known as Beels constitute vitally important fishery resource of Assam. There are 1392 floodplain wetlands in Assam of which 423 are registered and 969 are unregistered(dey 1981) which, if judiciously managed, can furnish unimaginably high & rich benefits to the people of the state. Darrang district has 103 numbers of wetland of which registered beels are 28 covering 6459 ha. Rowmari Beel is an important freshwater riverine registered floodplain wetland of Darrang district.auto-stoking of the beel occurs by the influx of the flood water when many riverine species including ornamental fishes enters in the beel. But it was seen that weeds growing in the connecting canal and siltation, hinders the flow of the water into the beel. This beel not only provides a sizeable amount of fish biomass for the region, but also maintains a potential ornamental fish diversity which remains unattended. The present communication is concerned with identification and diversity of the Ornamental fish species of the Rowmari beel and to understand the prospects of ornamental fishery. Ornamental fishes, both conventionally and technically, are small in sizes and gorgeous with attractive colour and majestic movement purported in the aquaria. However, small non-colourful fishes also receive ornamental status and remain in great demand from the aquarists if they do exhibit peculiar body morphology, strange locomotive deportment and are rare in occurrences and also the juvenile stages of large growing fishes which have high demand from the aquarists (Dey et al.,2002). Study area: The study was carried out in Rowmari beel of Darrang district of Assam. The Darrang district is situated in the central part of Assam in the northern side of the river Brahmaputra.The district is gifted with vast wetlands resources comprising of beels, ponds, tanks, oxbow lakes, dead river courses, low lying swamps, marshes and tributaries. Among the 103 number of wetland of the district.rowmari Beel is one of the important wetland located between 26 o 19 0.7 N - 26 o 19 58 N latitude to 91 o 55 50 E - 91 o 56 46 E longitude at 44 MSL. It is located towards southwest direction at about 35 kms from district headquarter Mangaldai. This beel is important as it shows characteristics of lotic as well as lentic habitat. The western margins of the beel are under paddy cultivation. Gowaltari and Ghatarag no.1 village lies in the northern side of the beel. The main river Brahmaputra is at a distance of 3.93 kms south east. The beel collects its drainage through a small canal Sirpalimukh of 2.69 kms length which happens to be sole outlet. During winter season the Rowmari beel shrinks considerably and is reduced to two pockets, Arimari and Tuldhung. Water enters through Sirpalimukh to Tuldhung then to Rowmari. T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 12

Fig 1: Location map of Rowmari Beel MATERIALS AND METHODS The Rowmari Beel is being monitored since Jan 2009 to March 2011. The map of the area was obtained from the Director of land Records, Government of Assam. Landscape elements in Rowmari beel was identified through exclusive field visits, ground trotting using GPS. Fishes were collected from different sites with the help of fishermen using different types of nets namely, gill nets, cast nets, dip nets, drag nets and other locally used fishing gears. Fishes caught using indigenous methods like T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 13

katal fishing were also taken into account. Fishes collected are preserved in 9-10 % formaldehyde solution (Jayaram, 1999) and identified on the works of Talwar and Jhingran (1991), Nath and Dey (2000) and www.fishbase.com. Fishes are also distinguished as classified or non-classified (Dey et al., 2002).Conservation status is given as per IUCN (2013.2) and CAMP (1998).Other relevant data were collected by direct enquiries of fishers as well as fish traders. Fig 2: Landuse map of Rowmari beel. (Source: Satellite imageries of March 2010 IRS ID LISS III) RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The main Rowmari beel is according to Govt. records is of 50 ha but now it has shrinked to about 41.38 ha (excluding Tuldhung and Arimari ).The length of Rowmari beel is 2.38 kms and breadth at centre is 1.81 m. The average depth of the beel during dry months is 8ft whereas in wet month it ranges from 14.5-18ft.It is seen T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 14

that Rowmari beel is mostly surrounded by cropland covering about 150284 ha, the settlement covers 2850 ha and water cover around the beel is of about 3150 ha. (Fig: 2)In the winter season, the chars and chaparis surrounding the Rowmari beel form good grazing grounds where Rabi crops such as mustard, pulses, potatoes, vegetables are grown. The majority of the population in the area is dependent on agriculture and at least 40% of the population is dependent on fishing. The fishermen does fishing in the beel under the prevalence of supervisor allotted by a Mahaldar and gets paid according to fish catch per day. In Ghatarag no.1 village, there is a fishing community known as malo whose main occupation is fishing and so most of the fishermen comes from this village. They are not literate and lack knowledge about ornamental fishes. Since the beel is perennial and has potentiality too, ornamental fishery could be developed as an alternate source of income and the fishermen could be trained with little effort. The present investigation shows availability of 50 numbers of ornamental fishes belonging to 9 orders and 20 families of which family dominates showing 11 numbers of species (Table1). Sen (2003) has reported presence of 266 species belonging to 10 orders and 38 families in North-East India including Assam, of which 196 have ornamental value (Dey et al., 2002). About 62 ornamental fish species belonging to 41 genera, 18 families and 7 orders were recorded in floodplain wetlands of lower Brahmaputra basin (Kalita et al.,2013).chakravartty et al.,(2012) in their study in Kapla beel in Barpeta district of Assam have found 67 number of classified ornamental fish species. Bhattacharya et al., (2000) have recorded 217 fish species from Assam of which 50 species have ornamental value. In the present study Order Cypriniformes was found to be dominant representing 20 species with 40% contribution to the total ornamental fish species, which is followed by Perciformes with 24 number, Siluriformes with 9 species,mastacembeliformes with 3,Osteoglossiformes with 2 and Clupiformes,Beloniformes,Cyprinidontiform es,tetradodontiformes each with 1 number of ornamental fish species. Out of 20 families found, represented the highest with 11 genera. Of the 50 species,30 number of classified ornamental fishes have been identified(table:2) The availability of 50 ornamental fish species is good enough to start up captive breeding of demandable fishes thus commercializing them and also conserving the depleting stock. Conservation status of the ornamental fish from the beel and percent occurrence of fish under CAMP and IUCN is given in Table 3.Out of 50 species reported in the present investigation4% are endangered,18% vulnerable,40% at lower risk near threatened,10% at low risk least concern, 26% not evaluated as per CAMP. However, as per IUCN (2013)10% of the total ornamental fishes are near threatened, 86%at low risk, 2% not evaluated and 40% remain data deficient. The present investigation ascertains that only highly demandable ornamental fish species could be selected for mass propagation. The highest demandable species among them are B.dario, T.lalius, T.chuna, X.cancila, N.nandus, C.orientalis, C.striatus, T.cutcutia, M. aral, M. pancalus, A. panchax, N.atherinoides, G.gagata, P. sophore, L.guntea, B.badis which has good market value (Dey et el., 2002). The fishermen could be hence trained for capture and culture of ornamental fishes near the beel which in future could turn out as potential business. But there are many factors affecting the beel like excessive T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 15

fishing, grazing, uneconomic use of fishing gears and other activities. The natural stock is losing ground due to paddy and jute cultivation along the catchment area of the beel. Thus the study of Rowmari beel provides crucial information about the status of the ornamental biodiversity in the beel and thus gets the emphasis for conservation and awareness. Table 1: List of Ornamental fishes found in Rowmari beel during 2009-2011 with their taxonomic status and conservation status as per 1UCN (2013.2) and CAMP1998) Order Family Name of Fish Species Common name Vernacu lar Name IUCN Status CAMP status Osteoglossif ormes Notopteridae Chitala chitala Humped feather back Chital NT EN Notopteridae Notopterus notopterus (Pallas,1769) Grey feather back Kandhul ee Clupeiforme s Clupeidae Gudusia chapra Indian river shad Korati LRlc Cypriniform es Amblypharyngodon mola Mola Carplet Moa LRlc *Cabdio morar (Hamilton,1822) Morari Boriala Chela cachius Silver hatchet chela Chela Cirrhinus mrigala Cirrhinus reba Mrigal Mirika Reba carp Lasim VU T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 16

Order Family Name of Fish Species Esomus danricus Common name Flying barb Vernac ular Name Darikan a IUCN Status CAMP status LRlc Salmophasia bacaila Lazer Razorbelly minnow Cheleko na LRlc Salmophasia phulo Catla catla Finescale razorbelly minnow Cheleko na Catla Bhakua VU Labeo bata Bata labeo Bhango n Order Labeo calbasu Labeo gonius Black rohu/ Orangefin labeo Mahler, Mali Kuria labeo Kurhi Puntius chola Swamp barb Puthi VU *Pethia conchonius(hamilt on,1822) Rosy barb Chokori puthi VU Puntius sophore Spotfin swamp barb Sendori puthi *Pethia ticto Two spot barb Chokori puthi Rasbora daniconius Slender rasbora Darikan a T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 17

Family Name of Fish Species Common name Vernac ular Name IUCN Status CAMP status Balitoridae Acanthocobitis botia Stripped loach Bali botia Cobitidae Botia dario Necktie loach Bagh botia Lepidocephalichthy s guntea Guntea loach Bakhar botia Siluriformes Bagridae Mystus cavasius Gangetic mystus Barsinga rah Bagridae Mystus tengara Tengara mystus Koli tengara Bagridae Mystus vittatus (Bloch, 1794) Striped dwarf catfish Tengra VU Bagridae Sperata seenghala (Sykes, 1839) Giant rivercatfish Ari Siluridae Wallago attu (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Wallago Borali NT Schilbeidae Ailia coila Gangetic ailia Bapati NT VU Schilbeidae *Neotropius atherinoides (Bloch, 1794) Indian potasi Bardia EN Sisoridae Gagata cenia Indian gagata Ngarang, Keyakat T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 18

Order Family Name of Fish Species Heteropneust idae Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1794) Common name Stinging catfish Vernac ular Name IUCN Status CAMP status Singhi VU Beloniforme s Belonidae Xenentodon cancila (Hamilton, 1822) Freshwater garfish Kakila Cyprinodont iformes Aplocheilida e Aplocheilus panchax (Hamilton, 1822) Blue panchax Kanpon a DD Mastacembe liformes Mastacembel idae Macrognathus aral (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) One-stripe spinyeel Tora Mastacembel idae Macrognathus pancalus Hamilton, 1822 Striped spiny eel Turi Mastacembel idae Mastacembelus armatus (Lacepède, 1800) Spiny eel Bami Perciformes Ambassidae Chanda nama Hamilton, 1822 Ambassidae Ambassidae Parambassis lala Parambassis ranga Elongate glassperchlet Highfin glassy perchlet Indian glassy fish Sonda Chanda NT Senduri chanda Nandidae Badis badis Badis Randoln ee Nandidae Nandus nandus Gangetic leaffish Gedgedi T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 19

Order Family Name of Fish Species Common name Vernac ular Name IUCN Status CAMP status Gobiidae Glossogobius giuris (Hamilton, 1822) Tank goby Pani mutura Anabantidae Anabas testudineus (Bloch, 1792) Climbing perch Kawoi DD VU Osphronemid ae Trichogaster lalius(hamilton, 1822) Dwarf gourami Lolkholi sha Osphronemid ae *Trichogaster chuna(hamilton,18 22) Honey gourami Bhasayl ee Channidae Channa punctata (Bloch, 1793) Spotted snake head Goroi Channidae Channa striata (Bloch, 1793) Striped snakehead Sol LRlc Channidae Channa orientalis (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Asiatic snake head Chengal i VU Tetraodontif ormes Tetraodontid ae Tetraodon cutcutia Ocellated pufferfish Gangato pe CAMP Abbreviation: EN-Endangered; VU-Vulnerable; -Lower risk near threatened; LRlc- Lower risk least concern IUCN Abbreviation: NT-Near Threatened; -Least concern; DD-Data deficient; -Not evaluated T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 20

Table 2: List of Classified ornamental fishes found in Rowmari beel during 2009-2011. Order Name of Fish Species Order Name of Fish Species Cypriniformes Amblypharyngodon mola Siluriformes Neotropius atherinoides Cabdio morar Gagata cenia Chela cachius Cyprinodontiformes Aplocheilus panchax Esomus danricus Mastacembeliformes Macrognathus aral Salmophasia phulo Macrognathus pancalus Puntius chola Mastacembelus armatus Pethia conchonius Perciformes Chanda nama Puntius sophore Parambassis lala Pethia ticto Parambassis ranga Rasbora daniconius Badis badis Acanthocobitis botia Nandus nandus Botia dario Trichogaster lalius Lepidocephalichthys guntea Trichogaster chuna Siluriformes Mystus tengara Channa orientalis Mystus vittatus Tetraodontiformes Tetraodon cutcutia T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 21

Number of species The Science Probe Vol. 2 No. 1 (February 2014) Page No- 11-24 ISSN: 2277 9566 Table 3: Percentage occurrence of ornamental fishes of Rowmari Beel under conservation status CAMP (1998) and IUCN(2013.2). Rowmari Beel: 2009-2011 EN VU NT LRlc DD CAMP(1998) No. of Fish species 2 9. 20 5.. 1 13 % contribution 4% 18%.. 40% 10%.. 2% 26% IUCN(2013) No. of Fish species.. 0 4 43 2 1 % contribution.. 10%. 86% 40% 2% Fig 3 Fig 4:Conservation status of Ornamental fishes 50 40 30 20 10 0 CAMP(1998) IUCN(2013) Threat category T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 22

Pictures Of Ornamentaal Fishes Available At Rowmari Beel The Science Probe Vol. 2 No. 1 (February 2014) Page No- 11-24 ISSN: 2277 9566 Picture 1: Ornamental fishes at landing site collected as miscellaneous group Picture 2: Pethia conchonius Picture 3: Puntius ticto Picture 4: Trichogaster lalius A panoramic view of Rowmari Beel. T h e S c i e n c e P r o b e 23

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