ICTHYOFAUNAL DIVERSITY OF MASYAM KHOLA, PALPA, NEPAL

Abstract

The present study deals with the fish diversity of Masyam Khola Palpa, Nepal covering two seasons winter and spring season using cast net. A total of 255 fish individuals belonging to 9 species, 7 genera and 2 families was found during study period. Cyprinidae (n=243) was the dominant family comprising of 7 species among 9 recorded species. Barilius bendelensis was the most common fish species on the basis of total no. of catch during the study period followed by Opsarius barna, Puntius sophore and Garra rupecula. Shannon-Weiner diversity index was highest (1.64) at station II and station III while lowest (1.44) at station I, simpson index was highest at station II (0.79) and lowest at station IV (0.76) and evenness index was highest in station I (0.89) and lowest in station IV (0.76). The environmental variables like DO, pH, temperature, and velocity were found to be in suitable range for fish habitat.