Species Diversity, Consumption Trends and Conservation Status of Freshwater Molluscs in Ghodaghodi Lake Area, Kailali District, Nepal
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Central Departmental of Zoology
Abstract
The study deals with diversity, consumption trends and conservation status of freshwater
molluscs in Ghodaghodi lake complex and associated lakes, Kailali District, Nepal. Field
survey was conducted from March-April 2016. Altogether 17 Molluscan species were
revealed from the study area including 13 gastropods and 4 bivalve species. Six Molluscan
species viz. Pila globosa, Bellamya bengalensis, B. dissimilis, Brotia costula, Parreysia
favidens, Lamellidens marginalis were reported as of food and medicinal value. Most of the
people preferred Bellamya spp. followed by Pila sp. and Bivalve spp. large bivalves L.
marginalis had restricted distribution and very low population in the study area while
Parreysia favidens were collected only from permanent stream. DO (Pr= 0.00965), water
temperature (Pr= 0.00257), depth (Pr= 0.02081), and elevation (Pr= 0.06898), Spearmans’s
correlation coefficient were found statistically significant on mollusc species by one-way
ANOVA. Species diversity was found by Shannon Wiener Diversity Index. Structured
interview showed people collect molluscs either by hand picking or by using local tools
(Heluka). Consumption trends are increasing by 62 % among Tharu community. People also
opined that consumption, poisoning, habitat loss, climate change and pollution as major
threats of molluscs.