Studies on Structure of Fish Community and Species Diversity in Wuhan Section of the Yangtze River

Based on monitoring data of fish community in Wuhan section of the Yangtze River from 2013~2017, the structure of fish community and species diversity of fish were described using Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Simpson dominance index, Margalef's richness index, Pielou's evenness index and multiple statistical methods. A total of 56 fish species from 41 genera, 12 families and 7 orders were collected during the monitoring periods, with dominance by Cyprinids. And there was no significant inter-annual difference in fish species numbers. According to feeding, the dominant species were carnivorous fish. According to habitat, benthic species were most abundant. According to spawning habit, resident species were dominant species. There were no significant inter-annual changes in diversity index. The fish size in 2017 has improved compared with that from 2013~2015.The abundance-biomass curves (ABC) and W-statistic of the fish community indicated that fish community was stable from 2013~2017.The fish community structure data for the four years were divided into two groups by using Cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) methods. No obvious difference between these two groups was found by the ANOSIM analysis. The similarity percentage (SIMPER) analysis showed that the abundance of fish adapting to the lotic environments increased, while the abundance of fish adapting to static or slow flow decreased. In brief, the fish community in the Wuhan section of the Yangtze River is relatively stable, and the fish size has an increasing trend. Forbidden fishing period management, stock enhancement and monitoring of fish resources are recommended to support implementation of protection and sustainable development of fishery resource in Wuhan section of the Yangtze River. © 2019, The Editorial Board of Journal of Basic Science and Engineering. All right reserved.