INTRODUCTION Meghalaya situated in the north eastern region of India, is endowed with a rich variety of flora and fauna The Meghalayan subtropical forests have been considered among the richest botanical habitatsof Asia The average temperature varies between 3.9 o Cand15.6 o C in winter and climbs upto 15 o C and 23.3 o C during summer With the hill rising to 2,000m, the state is cool despite its proximity i to tropics
Meghalaya has two drainage systems namely Brahmaputra in the North and Barak in the South Important rivers of Brahmaputra drainage are Umiam, Kopili, Myntang, Jingiram and Simsang, Kynshi, Umngot and Myntdu of Barak drainage The North Eastern Region of India is considered as one of the hotspots of freshwater fish biodiversity in the world Of approximately 806 species inhabiting freshwaters of India, the Northeastern India is represented by 267 species belonging to 114 genera under 38 families and 10 orders
The State of Meghalaya is found to be riched in its ichthyofaunistic diversity with 165 species so far been reported from the State belonging to 85 genera under 31 families and 9 orders A survey on the icthyofauna in six districts of Meghalaya has revealed 48 species belonging to 32 genera, 17 families and 6 orders The present study aims to update the ichthyofaunal diversity in the streams and rivers of Meghalaya district wise and to get a total picture of the distribution of fish species in the State
MATERIALS AND METHODS Random field surveys were conducted during 2007-08 in different water bodies of six districts i of Meghalaya viz. East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Ribhoi, Jaintia Hills, East Garo Hills and South Garo Hills The collection of fish samples were done using various types of nets and also from nearest fish landing centers The specimens were preserved immediately in 5% formaldehyde Identification is done following standard literature and with the help of expertise available at Zoological Survey of India, Shillong
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Table 1: Details of the surveyed rivers in Meghalaya Sl. No. River and Province Collection site Geographical position Altitude (m) 1 River Umryngkha, JH Dawki N25 o 11 10 10 -E E92 o 01 25 100 2 River Myntdu, JH Jowai N 25 o 26 59.5 -E 92 o 12 06.2 1402 3 River Kesoweh, JH Umkiang N 25 o 03 45 -E 92 o 23 10 40 4 River Umkyrpon, JH Khliehriat N 25 o 21 31.2 -E 92 o 22 11.5 1172 5 River Um-Mynkseh, JH Ladrymbai N 25 o 19 50 -E 92 o 19 45 1160 6 River Umkhen, RD Nongpoh N 25 o 54 30 -E 91 o 52 50 600 7 River Shella, EKH Shella N 25 o 10 45 -E 91 o 38 40 100 8 River Kynshi, WKH Nongstoin N25 o 30 30 -E91 o 16 15 15 1310 9 River Simsang, EGH Williamnagar N 25 o 30 30 -E 90 o 37 259 10 River Simsang, SGH Baghmara N 25 o 11 30 -E 90 o 38 30 365 11 River Lubha, JH Sonapur N 25 06 36.7 -E 92º21 54.2 28 JH - Jaintia Hills; RD - Ribhoi District; EKH - East Khasi Hills; WKH - West Khasi Garo Hills; SGH - South Garo Hills Hills; ESG - East
Table 2: Physico-chemical chemical properties of the water of some rivers of Meghalaya a Sl. No. Rivers/Streams & Location ph DO (mg/l) Conductivity (ms) 1 Kopili river, Iooksi (JH) 3.7 2.6 0.85 2 Kmai-um river, Rymbai(JH) 2.6 4.8 0.23 3 Lubhariver, Sonapur (JH) 68 6.8 46 4.6 014 0.14 4 Myntdu river, Thamar (JH) 4.3 4.7 0.14 5 Umngot river, Dawki (JH) 6.8 10.6 0.10 6 Umtrew river, Byrnihat (RD) 6.6 10.2 0.11 7 Umtyngar river, Kyrdemkhla (EKH) 6.4 7.02 0.14 8 Simsang river, Williamnagar (EGH) 6.0 4.8 0.11 9 Rompha river, Baghmara (SGH) 6.2 5.1 0.14 10 Simsang river, Baghmara (SGH) 6.3 6.2 0.12
Table 3: Distribution of fish fauna in six districts of Meghalaya Sl. No Name of the district Orders Families Genera Species 1 East Khasi Hills 2 2 6 7 2 West Khasi Hills 2 2 2 2 3 Ribhoi District 1 1 6 9 4 Jaintia Hills 6 13 24 30 5 East Garo Hills 3 5 7 10 6 South Garo Hills 4 6 7 10
13% 7% 2% 2% Cypriniformes Silu rifo rm es Perciform es 20% 56% Syn bran chiform es Belon ifo rmes Tetraodontiform es Per cent distribution of different orders of fishes in water bodies of Meghalaya
Table 4: Diversity of fish fauna in six districts of Meghalaya Sl. Order Family Genus Species EKH JH WKH RH EG SG No. 1 Cypriniformes Cyprinidae Salmostoma bacaila 2 phulo 3 Barilius bendelisis 4 Chela laubuca 5 Esomus danricus 6 Danio aequipinnatus 7 dangila 8 Brachydanio rerio 9 Amblypharyngodon mola 10 Cyprinus carpio 11 Neolissocheilus hexagonolepis 12 hexastichus 13 chola 14 Puntius shalynius 15 sophore 16 sarana 17 Cirrhinus reba
18 19 Labeo gonius 20 calbasu boga 21 pangusia 22 Garra gotyla 23 lamta 24 Psilo- Psilorhynchus balitora rhynchidae 25 Balitoridae Balitora brucei 26 Acanthocobitis botia 27 Cobitidae Botia dario 28 Lepidocephalus guntea 29 Siluriformes Bagridae bleekeri 30 Mystus menoda 31 cavasius 32 Siluridae Ompok bimaculatus 33 pabo 34 Schilbeidae Clupisoma garua 35 Sisoridae Bagarius bagarius
36 Clarias batrachus Heteropneustes fossilis 38 Perciformes Nandidae Badis badis 39 Gobiidae Glossogobius giuris 40 Belontidae Colisa fasciatus 41 gachua 42 Channidae Channa punctatus 43 stewartii 44 Synbranchi- Macrognathus aral 37 Heteropneustidae 45 formes Masta- pancalus 46 cembelidae Mastacembelus armatus 47 Beloniformes Belonidae Xenentodon cancila 48 Tetraodontiformes Tetraodontidae Tetraodon cutcutia EKH East Khasi Hills (River Shella); JH - Jaintia Hills (River Myntdu, Umryngkha, Umkyrpon, Um-Mynkseh, Kesoweh River); WKH - West Khasi Hills (River Kynshi); RH - Ribhoi District (River Umkhen, Umiam); EG East Garo District; SG South Garo District
Major percentage of species belonged to order Cypriniformes followed by the orders Siluriformes and Perciformes represented by 5 families each The areas surveyed includes both high altitude (above1000m) and low altitude (below 1000 m) sites Diversity of fish species is quite less in the places of higher altitude like Khleihriat, Jowai, Ladrymbai and Nongstoin as compared to low altitude sites like Dawki, Williamnagar and Baghmara In the district of East Khasi Hills, six species have been found as compared to the West Khasi Hills which is represented by only two species
Nine species have been recorded from Ribhoi district and thirtyspeciescould t i be found dfrom Jaintia Jiti Hills From the district of East Garo Hills ten species were collected and another ten species from South Garo Hills The higher diversity seen in the water bodies of Jaintia Hills District maybeduetolargenumberofspeciesfoundinthe big rivers (Umryngkha, Lubha, Umkiang) at lower altitudes, having warmer water and not polluted by coal mining effluents
Majority of the Silurian fish species (seven out of nine) come under threatened category either endangered or vulnerable. Comparatively very few species of cyprinids (five out of twenty eight) are threatened The factors influencing the status of fish diversity in the State include: Various destructive methods like dynamiting, poisoning by locally available herbs, chemicals like copper sulphate and lime and the freely available agriculturalpesticides or insecticides are indiscriminately used for fishing
Fishes are indiscriminately caught by gill nets, cast nets during the spawning runs Recently, one of the main factors which have played an importantrole in the decline of the fish population in the rivers of Meghalaya is the pollution caused by coal mining operation in Jaintia and Garo Hill Districts. Both the districts have large rivers which sustain higher icthyodiversity At the same time it is seen that the drainage system affected by coal mining and cement factory effluents show very less diversity in icthyofauna
Major rivers of the State which contribute maximum towards riverine fish production are heavily affected by run off water from the coal mining areas upstream The water bodies are badly affected by contamination of Aid Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) originating i i from mines and spoils, leaching of heavy metals, organic enrichment and silting by coal and sand particles Extremely low ph condition in the water accelerates weathering and dissolution of silicate and other rock minerals, thereby causing the release of other elements such as aluminum, manganese, copper, cadmium etc. into the water
The polluted water not only has declined the fish population but also contaminated agricultural fields, natural water resources and created scarcityof drinking water Low ph, low DO, higher sulphate content and turbidity in water of coal mining areas are affecting the aquatic life and less diversity of fish fauna It has been reported that a total of 12 taxa of algal community were recorded ddfrom AMD impacted streams as compared to 57 taxa from unimpacted stream belonging to Bacillariophyceae and a few from Chlorophyceae
This may be one of the causes for less food and oxygen availablity for fish in AMD impacted water bodies The possible conservation measures are: Reclamation of polluted water bodies and liming of water to neutralize acidic water and to keep lakes and ponds safe for aquatic life Prevention of use of piscicides in rivers There is an immediate need to create awareness among the users specially ill fishermen against use of poison either chemical or natural
Captive breeding of few species which h are either endangered d or vulnerable like Puntius shalynius, Cirrhinus reba, Garra gotyla, Ompok bimaculatus, Bagarius bagarius, Clarias batrachus, Mystus bleekeri, Neolissocheilus hexastichus General awareness among the people, consumers, students, NGOs for taking up programme to conserve the fish fauna Most obvious causes of biodiversity loss have been habitat loss, over exploitation, and introduction of invasive species Despite the discovery of several new species to date, the rate of increase of pressure on this fauna is highh thatt extinction may be expected even before discovery
Stream in coal mining i area Abandoned d pit
Myntdu river Coal dumping in Jaintia Hills
Wet lands away from coal Entrance of a rat hole coal mine mining area Different water bodies surveyed
Botia dario Cirrhinus reba Labeo gonius Labeo pangusia
Neolissocheilus hexagonolepis Puntius sarana Macrognathus aral Puntius chola
Macrognathus pancalus Brachydanio rerio Puntius shalynius Danio dangila Important Ornamental and food fishes of Meghalaya
AGKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are thankful to, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong for financial support under UPE scheme of UGC to Life Sciences The encouragement and the facilities provided by the Head of Department of Zoology for carrying out the work is highly acknowledged Authors are grateful to Ms. Nibedita Sen, Scientist and Officer-in- Charge, Zoological Survey of India for helping in identification of the specimens