scholarly journals Fish Community Assemblages of Mining-Impacted Freshwaters at Prestea, Ghana

Author(s):  
Osei O. Antobre ◽  
Nat Owusu-Prempeh ◽  
Michael J. Twumasi-Ankrah

The study evaluated the fish community assemblage in the sections of the Subri river, the Ankobra river, and the “galamsey” pond within the Prestea community as impacted by alluvial mining activities. Gill nets of length 10 m and mesh size 1.27 cm were used to trap fish of average length 25.25 cm whilst cane baskets were used to trap fish of average width 10.40 cm using the catch and recapture method. All the 46 fish samples identified belong to 10 genera and 5 families. The Chichlidae was the dominant family, accounting for 60% of the total families observed. With an H’ index of 1.57 the Subri river had the most fish diversity in comparison with the Ankobra river and the “galamsey” pond, which had 1.21 and 0.71, respectively. Similarly, the Subri river had a more complex fish community structure than the Ankobra and “galamsey” pond. The dominant species, Oreochromis niloticus, has not yet been evaluated by the IUCN, but the least dominated Brienomyrus brachyistus could be regarded as “least concern”. Notwithstanding, these fish are essential for food by the local communities. There is a possibility that the alluvial mining might have influenced the complexities of fish species communities. Thus conservation efforts must be promoted to sustain fish communities and overall freshwater ecosystem health.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-34
Author(s):  
ASHIM ADHIKARI ◽  
JASH HANG LIMBU ◽  
SOMIKA PATHAK

Species diversity is widely recognised as an important trait of functioning and resilient ecosystem. Spatio-temporal patterns of fish community structure in the Mechi River was studied based on stratified random survey, conducted between September 2018 and April 2019. The survey was conducted at three different sampling stations in three different seasons. For the fish sampling, two cast nets of different sizes were used, one having large mesh size of 0.5 cm, 3 m diameter and 2 kg weight and another having mesh size of 2 cm, 6 m diameter and 6 kg weight. In addition, drag net and gill net were also used to collect the fish samples. A total of 1,772 fishes belonging to 4 orders, 8 families, 16 genera and 33 species were documented. The results from the similarity percentage analysis indicated that, the species Schistura devdevi, Brachydanio rerio, Puntius sophore, Barilius barila, Schistura beveani and Puntius terio were the most copious fish species recorded from the Mechi River. One-way analysis of similarity testing for space and time variations in fish community indicated that there was a significant difference in space (R = 0.66, p<0.01) but no significant difference in time (R = -0.0123, p>0.433). The Canonical Correspondence Analysis hinted that dissolved oxygen, water velocity and pH have shown to influence the fish assemblage structure in Mechi River.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-92
Author(s):  
Jash hang Limbu ◽  
BISHNU BHURTEL ◽  
ASHIM ADHIKARI ◽  
PUNAM GC ◽  
MANIKA MAHARJAN ◽  
...  

The study of correlations between fish diversity, environmental variables and fish habitat aspects at different space and time scales of Nepal’s rivers and streams is scanty. This study investigated spatial and temporal patterns of fish assemblage structure in Nepal’s Andhi Khola. The field survey was conducted from September 2018 to May 2019 and the fishes were sampled from three sites using a medium size cast net of mesh size ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 cm and gill net having 2-3 cm mesh size, 30-35 feet length and 3-4 feet width, with the help of local fisher man. A total of 907 individuals representing 15 species belonged to four orders, six families and 11 genera were recorded during the study time. To detect the feasible relationships between fish community structure and environmental variables, we executed a Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). Based on similarity percentage (SIMPER) analysis, the major contributing species are Barilius barila (26.15%), Barilius vagra (20.48%), Mastacembelus armatus (8.04%), Puntius terio (6.64%), and Barilius bendelisis (5.94%). One-way analysis similarity (ANOSIM) tried out for both time and space variations in fish community structure suggested that there was a significant difference in temporal variation (R = 0.794, P = 0.0037) but no significant difference in spatial variation (R = -0.18, P = 0.923). Results from the Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) vindicated that dissolved oxygen, free carbon-dioxide and total hardness were the principle physio-chemical correlates of fish assemblage structure. One-way analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) on the Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) showed significant difference between spring, autumn and winter season but no significant difference was found in spatial variation. The extraction and transportation of boulders, cobbles, pebbles, sand mining, haphazard ongoing road development and dam construction for the irrigation without fish ladders were found to be existing threats to the fish diversity of Andhi Khola.   Keywords: Fish assemblage, multivariate analysis, rivers, spatio-temporal, streams


Our Nature ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-26
Author(s):  
Sushil Shrestha ◽  
Dipak Rajbanshi ◽  
Dil Kumar Limbu ◽  
Jash Hang Limbu

The Lohore River is one of the important riverine ecosystems of Dailekh which support diverse aquatic communities. The present study was carried out to assess the fish diversity status with relation to environmental conditions in both to space and time. The survey was conducted at three different sampling stations in three different seasons. For the fish sampling, two cast nets of different mesh sizes were used, one having large mesh size of 2 cm, 6 m diameter and 6 kg weight and another having mesh size of 0.5 cm, 3 m diameter and 2 kg weight. Moreover, drag net and gill net were also used to collect the fish samples. A total of 11 fish species belonging to 2 orders, 3 families and 7 genera. Results from the similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) suggested that fish species of Puntius gelius, Schizothorax plagiostomus, Tor chelynoides and Schistura sovana were major contributing species each contribute more than 9%. An analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) pointed that fish community structure in the Lohore River differ in spatial scale (p<0.01) but not in temporal scale (P>0.01). Water temperature, dissolved oxygen and water velocity was found as influential factors for fish species distribution.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-104
Author(s):  
ARCHANA PRASAD ◽  
ANJANA SHRESTHA ◽  
JASH HANG LIMBU ◽  
DEEP SWAR

The space and time variations of the fish community structure in hill streams of Nepal are poorly understood. This research aims at studying the space and time variation of fish community structure in the Seti Gandaki River, Tanahu, Nepal. The field survey was conducted from July 2017 to June 2018 and the fishes were sampled from six sites using a medium size cast net of mesh size ranging from 3 mm to 6 mm mesh size, 25-33 feet length and 3.5-5 feet width, with the help of local fisher man. A total of 1,440 individuals were caught representing 46 species belonging to three order, nine families and 23 genera. The analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) showed significant difference in space (R = 0.824, P = 0.001) but not in time (R = 0.135, P = 0.021). On the basis of similarity percentage (SIMPER) analysis, 85.43% similarity was found among the seasons and major contributing species were Barilius bendelisis (8.44%) followed by B. vagra (7.79%), Tor putitora (7.27%), Garra gotyla (7%), Acanthocobotis botia (6.7%), Neolissochilus hexagonolepis (6.64%), Barilius shacra (6%), B. barila (4.5%) and Opsarius barna (4.37%). On the other hand, 85.24% similarity was found among the sites and major contributing species were B. bendelisis (8.8%) followed by B. vagra (7.6%), G. gotyla (7.27%), T. putitora (7.17%), A. botia (6.97%), N. hexagonolepis (6.7%), B. shacra (6.34%), B. barila (4.7%) and O. barna (4.39%). Results from the Canonical Correspondence Analysis indicated that the environmental variables, such as pH, total hardness, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen and water temperature have shown to determine the fish community structure of Seti Gandaki River. Keywords: Fish diversity, freshwater, habitat, spatio-temporal, stream


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 20190-20200
Author(s):  
Jawan Tumbahangfe ◽  
Jash Hang Limbu ◽  
Archana Prasad ◽  
Bharat Raj Subba ◽  
Dil Kumar Limbu

Tamor River in eastern Nepal supports diverse hill stream fishes. From winter, spring, summer, and autumn of 2020, we investigated the ichthyofaunal diversity with environmental variables in the snow-fed Tamor River covering four seasons (winter, spring, summer, and autumn) and field surveys were carried out in January, April, July, and October 2020. We used two cast nets of different sizes, one with a mesh size of 2 cm, 6 m diameter and 6 kg weight and another having 0.5 cm, 3 m diameter and 2 kg weight. In addition, monofilament gill nets with mesh sizes of 6, 8, and 10 were used for fish sampling. A total of 6,373 fish individuals representing 28 species belonging to three orders, seven families, and 16 genera were recorded. One-way permutational multivariate analysis of variance (perMANOVA) on the Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) showed no significant (P >0.05) difference between winter, spring, and autumn season but summer season showed significant (P <0.05) difference from winter, spring, and autumn seasons. Furthermore, one-way analysis of variance on redundancy analysis (RDA) vindicated that among the selected parameters, pH, air temperature and total hardness were the influencing factors (P <0.05) to determine the fish community structure in Tamor River.


Our Nature ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-81
Author(s):  
Dipak Rajbanshi ◽  
Jash Hang Limbu ◽  
Niraj Khadka ◽  
Prakash Kumar ◽  
Jeevan Kumar Gurung ◽  
...  

Studies on fish community structure along altitudinal gradients of rivers are lacking in Nepal. This study was carried out to gauge the fish diversity and composition along elevational gradient in Ratuwa River. The altitudinal gradient varies between 70 m to 1300 m. Fish samples were collected based on habitat representativeness from April (spring) 10-18, July (summer) 10-18, October (autumn) 10-18, 2020 and January (winter) 10-18, 2021. A total of 3447 specimens representing 4 orders, 14 families and 36 species were identified. Both fish diversity and abundance of studied ichthyofauna vary with altitudinal gradient. The present study affirmed that fish species of Opsarius bendelisis, Schistura multifasciatus, Garra annandalei, Brachydanio rerio, Aspidoparia morar, and Schistura scaturigina are the major contributory species (>1%) for both space and time spectrums. Fish community structure testing for both to space and time showed significant difference in spatial spectrum (R=0.72, P<0.01) but no significant difference in temporal variation (R=-0.034, P>0.05). The present results hinted that fish assemblage structure varied significantly from low to high elevations, altitude, water temperature, water velocity, dissolved oxygen and pH was found as major influential factors (P<0.05) for species distribution.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Collins Ayine Nsor ◽  
Edward Adzesiwor Obodai

Fish community structure was assessed in six wetlands using cast nets, to correlate with environmental variables with diversity and distribution patterns, from 2010 to 2012. A total of 2,239 individuals belonging to 44 species and 1,938 individuals belonging to 40 species were sampled in the dry and wet seasons. Mochokid and Mormyrid families dominated fish community and constituted 14.8%, respectively, followed by Alestids (12.9%) and Chlariids (11.1%). Rarer taxons were centropomids, channids, malapteruds, and oesteoglossids and represented 1.9%, respectively. Overall, CPUE per net did not vary significantly (Tukey HSD test,p=0.27) in the dry and wet seasons. Wuntori marsh consistently showed dominance in mean monthly CPUE per net (dry =115±4.5; wet =107±7.7seasons), while Bunglung constructed wetland was the least recorded (dry =56.5±6.2; wet =58.3±4.1seasons). Fish diversity and richness differed significantly (F=0.11,p=0.03) among seasons. Environmental disturbances were season-specific and did not differ significantly (F=0.16,df=14,p=0.97) among sites. A DCA ordination explained 69% variability in fish distribution patterns, while PCA showed that 81.8% of nitrate-nitrogen, phosphate, and grazing intensity on axis 1 and conductivity, temperature, and turbidity on axis 2 influenced fish community structure. Wetland conservation must be promoted to sustain fish abundance and overall ecosystem stability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Nuralim Pasisingi ◽  
Abdul Hafidz Olii ◽  
Sitty Ainsyah Habibie

Nike is a terminology used by Gorontalo local community to name schooling of minuscule amphidromous goby fish that has a limited appearance in Gorontalo waters. Understanding the biological performance of Nike fish is vital for implementing management and conservation strategy. This study aims to analyze daily recruitment and to determine growth patterns of Nike fish population in nature. Sampling was conducted in the Gorontalo waters during March, April, and May 2018 using a fish net with a mesh size of 0.5 inches. The duration of the appearance of Nike schooling in waters varies every month. The number of fish samples collected each month in this study ranged from 150 to 300 individuals. This study reveals that body color diversity and morphology of Nike fish strongly alleged to depend on where and how long they appear in the waters. Based on the daily recruitment pattern, Nike fish population distributed in Gorontalo waters is predicted to consist of individuals from multi-generation with an average length range of 1.848–2.805 cm. During the sampling time, a positive allometric growth pattern indicated by the population.


2016 ◽  
pp. 97-116
Author(s):  
Eva Salas ◽  
Cristina Sánchez-Godínez ◽  
Andrea Montero-Cordero

Biogeographically, the Caño Island Biological Reserve (CIBR) is of strategic importance, since it is located in the center of the Panamic Province (Costa Rica and Panama), characterized by a peak in fish species richness within the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP). Despite its importance, fish community structure around the island has not been deeply studied, and coastal fish diversity records need to be updated. The aims of the study were: 1) to describe the community structure of the reef fish community of CIBR and 2) to update the list of the coastal fish species recorded until today. For the first objective, 50 stationary fish counts were conducted at 10 locations around Caño Island, in which 79 species, belonging to 32 families, were registered. The most abundant family was Pomacentridae, and the most abundant species was Chromis atrilobata. Planktivorous and carnivorous fish were the most abundant. The existence of a relationship between coral cover and the presence of herbivorous grazers was highlighted within the analysis. Additionally, species composition was compared by site and this revealed that “El Barco” has an abundant presence of snappers. For the second objective, published fish species records were collected for the CIBR and 35 new records were added, for a total of 212 coastal fish species, which represents approximately 17% of coastal fish diversity in the TEP. This work presents a baseline for fish monitoring and mangement measures in this marine protected area.


2021 ◽  
Vol 890 (1) ◽  
pp. 012069
Author(s):  
Samuel ◽  
M Dwirastina ◽  
Y C Ditya

Abstract Siam sepat (Trichopodus pectoralis) is a fish that lives with the characteristics of its life in mainland public waters such as rivers, lakes and flooded swamps. The Siam sepat is classified as a consumption fish, has morphological characteristics with a small mouth with a pointed snout and a flat body shape. The research was conducted from March to October 2018 in Semayang Lake, East Kalimantan. Fish samples obtained from fishermen’s catch using fishing gear, including nets, nets, tangkul, scoops and traps. This study used an enumerator to record the length and weight of the fish. The results of the research analysis showed that the size of the individuals who dominate the Siam sepat fish population is at the size of 14.0-17.0 cm (60.8%), the allometric growth pattern (-) with the equation W = 0.0393 * L2.6409. The size of the first caught (Lc) of the Siam Sepat fish was 17.31 cm, the maximum average length (L∞) was 22.75 cm and the growth coefficient (K) was 0.78 per year. Natural mortality (M) and fishing mortality (F) were 1.64 and 2.64 per year, respectively. Thus the rate of exploitation (E) = 0.62 has exceeded the optimum value indicating that the fishing effort of Siamese septic fish in Lake Semayang has occurred overfishing.


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