Ichthtyofaunistic survey in perennial Wajoo nullah,an important tribitry of river Ravi in Kathua District, has shown the existence of 64 fish species belonging to 7 orders, 17 families and 42genera. Gudusia chapra and Parambassis bacails are the new records for Jammu and Kashmir State. Fish fauna is dominated by Cyprinifonnes (37 species), followed by Siluriformes (12 species), Perciformes (9 species), Synbranchiformes and Osteoglossiformes (2 species each) and Clupeiformes and Beloniformes (1 species each). Overexploitation, illegal fishing and fishing during breeding season are serious threats to fish resources in Wajoo nullah

Dutta, S.P.S.

Journal of Applied and Natural Science

 2008APPLIED    ANDNATURAL SCIENCEFOUNDATIONANSFJANS Journal of Applied and Natural Science 8 (2): 1087 - 1089 (2016) INTRODUCTION Kathua district of Jammu region is drained by the river Ravi and is joined by a large number of seasonal and perennial tributaries. Some of these tributaries at the foot hills of Shivaliks are spring fed, pooled, highly productive water bodies having a rich diversity and density of macrophytes, algae, macrobenthos, prawns, crabs, fish etc. Due to good water quality and rich di-versity of fish food organisms many fish species from the river Ravi migrate freely for breeding and feeding and contribute to the rich fish diversity in the area Ear-lier, Joshi et al (1978). Dutta and Kour (2006) Dutta et al, (2006) and Rathore and Dutta (2015ab) have added to the study of fish fauna of Kathua District. There is no record of fish fauna of Buzhoo nullah and has been enlisted. The objective of the present  study is to pro-vide a baseline data to the state fishery department to explore the possibilities of exploiting these water bod-ies for aquaculture, in framing a proper policy before issuing licenses to the fishermen and in stocking exotic and other fish species in the area. Topography: Wajoo nullah an important tributary in Kathua district has its origin in village Samper Sola, Kathua town, from a spring. It is mainly spring fed, pooled, sluggish water body and is also joined by a large number of seasonal and perennial tributaries in-cluding a distributary of Ujh river. Wajoo nullah enters Punjab down stream Janial village in Kathua and fi-nally enters the river Ravi draining eastern boundary of Jammu region. Its catchment area has vast agricultural fields and overflowing water used for irrigation enters the nullah along its length. There is a good diversity and density of macrophytes and algal blooms are com-mon during certain months. ISSN : 0974-9411 (Print), 2231-5209 (Online)  All Rights Reserved © Applied and Natural Science Foundation  www.ansfoundation.org MATERIALS AND METHODS Fishes collected by fishermen with castnet were pur-chased, studied for colour pattern and identified in the laboratory (Hamilton, 1822; Mishra, 1962; Dutta and Maihotra, 1984; Talwar and Jhingran, 1991; Day, 1994 and Jayaram, 1999). For systematic analysis work of Jayaram (1999) has been referred. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Fishes identified from Wajoo nullah, Kathua district, are given as below: Superclass: Gnathostomata Class: Actinopterygii Sub class: Neopterygii Division: Teleostei Sub Division: Osteoglossomorpha Order: Osteoglossiformes Sub order: Notopteroidei Family: Notopteridae Genus   Notopterus Lacepede L N. notopterus (Pallas) Genus : Chitala Fowler 2. C.chitala (Ham—Buch) Sub division: Clupemorpha Order: Clupeformes Family: Clupeidae Sub Family: Alosinae Genus : Gudusia Fowler 3. G. chapra (Ham.-Buch.) Sub division: Eutelostei  Super order:  Ostariophysi  Order Cyprinifoimes Family Cyprinidae  Sub family: Danioriinae (Rasborinae) Fish fauna of Wajoo nullah, an important tributary of the river Ravi in Kathua District, Jammu Region, Jammu and Kashmir State, India  S.P.S. Dutta  Emeritus Fellow (UGC), Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Jammu, Jammu (J&K), INDIA E– mail: duttasps@gmail.com  Received: April 29, 2016; Revised received: June, 1, 2016; Accepted: June 10, 2016 Abstracts: Ichthtyofaunistic survey in perennial Wajoo nullah,an important tribitry of river Ravi in Kathua District, has shown the existence of 64 fish species belonging to 7 orders, 17 families and 42genera. Gudusia chapra and Parambassis bacails are the new records for Jammu and Kashmir State. Fish fauna is dominated by Cyprinifonnes (37 species), followed by Siluriformes (12 species), Perciformes (9 species), Synbranchiformes and Osteoglossiformes (2 species each) and Clupeiformes and Beloniformes (1 species each). Overexploitation, illegal fishing and fishing during breeding season are serious threats to fish resources in Wajoo nullah. Keywords: Fish fauna, Wajoo nullah, tributary, the river Ravi, Kathua district 1088   S.P.S. Dutta / J. Appl. & Nat. Sci. 8 (2): 1087 - 1089 (2016) Genus: Securicula Gunther 4. S.gora (Ham. -Buch)  Genus: Salmostoma Swainson 5. S. bacaila (Ham.-Buch.) 6. S.punjabensis (Ham.-Buch.)  Genus: Aspidoparia Heckel 7. Aspidopa morar (Ham.-Buch  Genus: Barilius Ham.-Buch. 8. B.bendelisis (Ham.-Buch) 9. B.vagra vagra (Ham.-Buch) 10. B.modestus Day Genus: Danio Ham. -Buch.’, 11. D.devario (Ham.-Buch.)  Genus : Esomus Swainson 12. E.danricus (Ham.-Buch.) Genus : Rasbora Bleeker  13. R.rasbora (Ham.-Buch.) Genus : Amblypharyngodon Bleeker 14. A.mola (Ham.—Buch) Genus : Chela Ham.-Buch. 15.  C.laubuca(Ham.-Buch) 16. Ccachius (Ham-Buch) Sub Family: Cyprininae  Genus : Cyprinus Linnaeus 17. C.carpio communis Linnaeus Genus : Tor Gray 18. T.tor (Ham-Buch) 19. T.putitora (Ham.-Buch.) Genus : Puntius Ham.-Buch. 20. P.ticto (Ham.-Buch) 21. P.sophore (Ham. Buch.) 22. P.sarana, sarana (Ham.Buch.) 23. P.conchonius (Ham.-Buch.) Genus: Labeo Cuvier 24. L.bata (Ham.-Buch.) 25. L.dero(Ham.-Buch.) 26. L.dyocheilus dyocheilus (Mc Cli) 27. L.gonius (Ham-Buch) 28.  L.calbasu (Ham.-Buch.) 29. L.pangusia (Ham.-Buch) 30. L.boggut (Sykes) Genus: Cirrhinus Oken   31. C.mrigala (Ham-Buch) 32. C.reba (Ham.-Buch.)  Genus: Osteobrarma Heckel 33.  O.cotio cotio (Ham.-Buch.) Sub family: Garrinae Genus: Crossocheilus Kuh1& van Hasselt 34. C.latitus diplocheilus (Heckel) Genus: Garra (Ham.-Buch) 35. G.gotyla gotyla Gray 36. G.lamta (Ham.Buch.) Family: Balitoridae Sub family: Nemachelinae Genus: Acanthocobitis Peter  37.  A botia (Ham.- Buch) Family: Cobitidae Sub Family: Botinae  Genus: Botia Gray 38. B.almorhae Gray 39. B. lohachata Chaudhuri Sub family: Cobitinae Genus: Lepidocephalus Breker 40. L.guntea (Ham.-Buch.) Order: Siluriformes Family: Bagridae Sub family: Ritinae  Genus: Rita Bleeker 41. R.rita (Ham.Buch.) Sub family: Bagrinal Genus: Mystus Scopoli 42. M.vittatus (Bloch) 43. M.bleekeri (Day) 44. M.cavasius (Ham.Buch.)  Genus: Aorichthys Wu 45. A.seenghala (Sykes) Family: Siluridae  Genus: Ompok Lacepede 46. O.pabda (Ham.-Buch.) Genus: Wallago Bleeker  47. W.attu (Bloch and Schneider) Family: Schilbidae Sub family: Schilbeinae Genus: Pseudeutropius Bleeker 48. P.atherinoides (Bloch and Schneider) Famiy:Amblycptidae Genus: Amblyceps Blyth 49 A. mangois (Ham.-Buch.) Family: Sisoridae  Genus: Bagarius Bleeker  50. B. bagarius (Ham.-Buch.) Genus: Gagata Bleeker 51. G. cenia (Ham.-Buch.) Family: Heteropneustidae Genus : Heteropneustes Muller 52. H.fossilis (Bloch) Super order: Accantloptergygii  Order: Beloniformes Family: Belonidae Genus: Xenontodon Regan  53. X. cancila (Ham.-Buch.) Order: Perciformes Sub order: Percoidei Family: Chandidae  Genus : Chanda Ham.-Buch 54. C. nama Ham.-Buch Genus: Parambassis Bleeker  55. P.ranga (Ham.- Buch 56. P.baculis Ham.-Buch  Family: Nandidae Sub Family: Nandinae Genus: Nandus Val. 57. N. nandus Ham.-Buch  Sub family: Gobinae Genus: Glossogobius Gill:  58. G.giuris (Ham.-Buch)  Suborder: Channodei  Family: Channidae 1089   S.P.S. Dutta / J. Appl. & Nat. Sci. 8 (2): 1087 - 1089 (2016) Genus : Channa Scopoli  59.  C.punctantus (Bloch)  60.  C.orientials Bloch and Schn 61.  C.marulius (Ham.-Buch.)  62.   C.striatus (Buch)  Order        Synbranchiformes Suborder   Mastacembeloidei Family     Mastamcembelidae Subfamily  Mastacembelinae Genus  : Macroganthus Lacepede 63. M. pancalus Hamilton-Buchanan  Genus : Mastacembelus Scopoli 64. M. armatus (Lac.)  Fish fauna of Wajoo nullah, comprising of sixty four species, is more diversified in comparison to the other tributaries of the river Ravi. Joshi et al. (1978) enlisted 12 fish species belonging to 4 orders, 6 families and 11 genera from Kathua Khad and three fish species viz Barilius vagra, Tor putitora and Channa gachua from UJh river. Dutta et. al. (2006) noticed 27 fishes species belonging to 4 orders, 8 families and 20 genera from UJh river: 16 species belonging to 2 orders, 4 families and 12 genera from Tarna nullah and total absence of fish from Kathua Khad. Rathore and Dutta (2015) no-ticed 42 fish species belonging to 5 orders, 10 families and 27 genera from river UJh. Dutta et.al, (2001) reported 59 fish species belonging to 6 orders, 15 families and 25 genera from river Bas-antar; an important tributary of the river Ravi, in Samba area. Sharma and Dutta (2012) resurveyed fish fauna of river Basantar and noticed 35 fish species belonging to5 orders, 10 families and 25 genera.  A rich fish diversity in Wajoo nullah in comparison to some other tributaries of the river Ravi is attributed to:  1. Perennial water flow and presence of large number of pools along its length 2. A rich macrophytic and algal diversity and density and other fish food organisms. 3. Migration of fish from the river Ravi for feeding and breeding. Presence of Bagarius, Tor, Labeo, Garra, Cirrhinus etc. in this nullah indicates fish migration from the river Ravi. Fish conservation in this highly productive tributary of the river Ravi and other water bodies in Jammu re-quires a strict monitoring by the state fishery depart-ment. There is no check on fish size collection by fish-ermen. These collect fishes measuring few centimeters and weighing few gms. Commercial fishes like Tor tor, Tor putitora, Labeo spp, Cirrhinus spp, Aorichthys spp, Bagarius spp., etc weighing less than 100 gm are collected by fishermen. There should be total ban on fishing during fish breeding season viz; May-August as is instructed in the licences issued by the state fish-ery department. Many states in our country are strictly implementing total ban on fishing during monsoon. Conclusion Present fish survey in Wajoo nullah has shown rich diversity of 64 species in comparison to some other tributaries of the river Ravi in Kathua district. This is a tributary to perennial water flow, rich diversity and density of fish food organism and fish migration from the river Ravi. Fish conservation requires monitoring by the state Fishery Department to check illegal fishing methods, fishing of small sized fishes and implement-ing total ban on fishing during monsoon.  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Emeritus fellowship awarded by UGC, New Delhi, is gratefully acknowledged. Mr. Pawan Paul Sharma, Assistant Director, Sate Fishery Department is ac-knowledge for providing information about Wajoo nullah. I express my thanks to the Head, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Jammu, for providing necessary facilities in the department. REFERENCES Day, F. (1994). The fishes of India, being a natural history of the fishes known to inhabit seas and fresh waters of India, Burma and Ceylon, Fourth India Reprint Vol I and II, Jagmandier Book Agency, New Delhi, Dutta, S.P.S and Kour, H. (2006). Fish fauna of Kathua Dis-trict, Jammu region. In proceedings National Seminar: New Trends in Fishery Development in India, Punjab University, Chandigarh Feb. 16-18:233-240. Dutta, S.P.S. and Malhotra, Y.R. (1984). An upto date checklist and a key to the identification of fishes of Jammu, Jammu University Review (Sc) J, 2:65-92. Dutta, S.P.S., Bali, J.P.S., Kour, H. and Sharma, L. (200l). Hydro biology of river Basantar, an important tributary of the river Ravi. J.Aquatic BioL, 16 (1-2):41 Dutta, S.P.S., Gupta, S.C., Rathore, V. and Sharma, A. (2006). Fish fauna of some tributaries of the river Ravi; District kathua, J&K State, In: Trends in Biodiversity and Aquaculture. Edited by Wanganeo, A. and Langer, R.K. Daya Publishing House, New Delhi: 443-452. Hamilton, B.F. (1822). An account of the fishes found in the river Ganga and its tributaries. Edinburg and London. Jayaram, K.C. (1999). The Freshwater fishes of the Indian Region. Narendra Publishing House Delhi. Joshi, C.S. Sehgal, K.L. and Sunder S. (1978). Observations on the fishery resources of hill streams of Jammu Province with special reference to maha haseer and other commer-cial important species. Indian J. Fish, 25 (1-2): 197-206 Misra, K.S. (1962). An aid to the identification of the com-mon commercial fishes of India and Pakistan, Rec. In-dian Mus., 57; 1-320. Sharma, A. and Dutta, S.P.S. (2012). Present and past status of fish fauna of river Basantar, an important tributary of the river Ravi in Samba district, Jammu (J&K State). J. Applied and Natural Resources,  4(1): 123-126. Rathore, V. and Dutta, S.P.S. (2015a). Some new fish re-cords of river UJh, an important tributary of the river R avi, Kathua district, Jammu region J&K State. Sourve-nir 10th JK Science Congress, March 14-16, 2015, or-ganized by University of Jammu: 163 (Abstract EVS 016). Rathore, V. and Dutta, S.P. (2015b). Fish fauna of river UJh, an important tributary of the river ravi, District Kathua, Jammu.  Env. Conservation J, 16(1-L 2): 81-86. Talwar, P.K. and Jhingran, A.G. (1991). Inland Fishes of India and adjacent countries, Oxford and IBH publish-ing Co Pvt, Ltd. New Delhi Vol1 and II. 

Fish fauna of Wajoo nullah, an important tributary of the river Ravi in Kathua District, Jammu Region, Jammu and Kashmir State, India

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Fish fauna of Wajoo nullah, an important tributary of the river Ravi in Kathua District, Jammu Region, Jammu and Kashmir State, India

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