A Study on Ichthyofaunal Diversity of Lake Kharungpat, Manipur, India

Biodiversity has been defined as the variability among living organism from all sources including, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems. The fish diversity of lake Kharungpat comprised of 29 species under 20 genera, 11 families and 6 orders. The study revealed that, among the identified fish species Amblypharyngodon mola, Esomus dandricus, Puntius sophore and Channa orientalis was found to be highly abundant. The recorded six orders comprised namely, Cypriniformes, Siluriformes, Anabantiformes, Perciformes, Gobiiformes and Synbranchiformes. The Cypriniformes formed one of the most dominant order as compared to all other orders recorded in the present study comprising of 52 % of the total fish species of the lake. Cyprinidae family was the most dominant comprising of 52 % of the total fish species. The study observed that, maximum ichthyofaunal diversity was recorded in the month of July, 2020 (29 species). The maximum and minimum value of Simpson index was recorded during December, 2019 and August, 2020 with an index value of 0.9278 and 0.6778, respectively. The observed Shannon index value showed maximum in September, 2019 (2.843). The present finding indicated a less healthy environment of the lake. Proper actions are needful by the concerned agencies with respect to the fish diversity of the lake and maintenance of sustainable fish production without sacrificing the lake's ecosystem with the help of full participation of community.