Fish Phytoplankton and Zooplankton Diversity Relationship with Water Quality Parameters of Ghodaghodi Lake,Sudurpaschim Province,Nepal

Abstract

The present study aims to find fish, phytoplankton and zooplankton diversity relationships with water quality parameters of Ghodaghodi Lake, Sudurpaschim Province, Nepal. Fish and plankton samples were collected together with water quality parameters from six sampling sites of the Ghodaghodi Lake from June 2019 to December 2019. The fish sampling was done by using bamboo fish trap, net, helka and dhadiya. Collection of plankton samples were made by conical-shaped monofilament nylon plankton net, with the help of local fisherwomen. In total, 510 individuals of fishes representing six Orders, Ten Families, and 12 Genera were collected. Anabantiformes emerged as the most species-rich order, accounting for 57.84% of the total species. A total of 118 individuals of zooplankton belonging to copepods, cladocerans and rotifers were enumerated during the present investigation. Copepods were the most dominating group, followed by cladocerans and rotifers and unidentified organisms. A total of 138 individuals of phytoplankton belonging to Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Cyanophyceae and Zygnematophyceae were enumerated during the present investigation. The most leading group was Chlorophyceae followed by Cyanophyceae, Bacillariophyceae and group Zygnematophyceae. To detect the feasible relationships between fish, phytoplankton and zooplankton diversity with environmental variables a Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was executed. Based on similarity percentage (SIMPER) analysis, the major contributing species are Puntius sophore (27.69 %), Channa punctata (22.56%), Trichogaster faciatus (17.6%), Nandus nandus (6.99%), Macrognathus pancalus (6.164%), Esomus danricus (4.653%), Lepidocephalichthys guntea (3.469%), Xenentodon cancila (3.288 %), Amblypharyngodon microlepis (2.82%), Notopterus notopterus (2.419)% , Heteropneustes fossilis (1.222%), Channa marulius (0.7551%), and Monopterus cuchia (0.3761%). The CCA results revealed that the pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, Dissolved oxygen, transparency, turbidity and total dissolved solids are the main drivers to shape the fish community structure of Ghodaghodi Lake. CCA further reveals a significant correlation between fish assemblage and phytoplankton and zooplankton diversity.