Chitralekha Taid, Faruk Ahmed, Priyanka Khanikar, Sangeeta Mili and Pinku Satnami
Abstract
The present study was carried out to investigate the diversity of freshwater fishes of two different lentic wetlands in Lakhimpur district, Assam, India. Occurrence of 54 fish species belonging to nine orders have been recorded during the survey period. The Cyprinidae family was found to be dominant with 22 species. Among the conservation status of different fish species 88.89% are categorised as Least concern (LC), 1.85% as Data deficient (DD), 5.56% as Near Threatened (NT), 1.85% as Endangered (EN) and 1.85% as Vulnerable (VU). However, Shannonâs diversity index was recorded to be highest in the month of April, (2.145) and lowest in month of May (2.014). On the other hand, Margalef richness was highest in the month of May (2.508) and lowest in the month of February (2.174). Moreover, physio-chemical analysis of water showed that the Dissolved oxygen content range between 7.31±0.41 and 6.95±0.37. The average pH value varied between 7.31±0.13 and 7.27±0.14 and maximum water temperature (23.62±0.97) was recorded during the month of May and lowest (16.97±0.66) in the month of January. However, the present study reveals that the physico-chemical and biological components provide healthy environment for fish growth in the wetlands which contributes significantly to the sustenance of balanced ecosystem.