Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 December 2017 | 9(12): 11087–11094
Ichthyofauna of Udayasamudram Reservoir in Nalgonda District, Telangana State, India
Rachamalla Shyamsundar 1, Kante Krishna Prasad 2 & Chelmala Srinivasulu 3
1 rachamalla.shyam@gmail.com, 2 kpanatheist@gmail.com, 3 chelmalasrinivasulu@gmail.com (corresponding author)
doi: http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3417.9.12.11087-11094 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:66700EE3-7776-43A0-9EDA-27C8D41C46CF
Editor: Rajeev Raghavan, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Kochi, India. Date of publication: 26 December 2017 (online & print)Manuscript details: Ms # 3417 | Received 18 March 2017 | Final received 08 December 2017 | Finally accepted 11 December 2017
Citation: Shyamsundar, R., K.K. Prasad & C. Srinivasulu (2017). Ichthyofauna of Udayasamudram Reservoir in Nalgonda District, Telangana State, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(12): 11087–11094; http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3417.9.12.11087-11094
Copyright: © Shyamsundar et al. 2017. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Funding: DST-SERB, Govt. of India, and UGC, Govt. of India.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We thank the Head, Department of Zoology, Osmania University, for the necessary facilities. KKP acknowledges UGC, New Delhi for Research Fellowship. CS acknowledges DST-SERB, New Delhi for the research grant, and UGC-SAP II (DSA - I) Programme in Zoology.
India has rich ichthyofaunal diversity in streams, rivers, reservoirs, subterranean systems, traditional lakes and domestic ponds, represented by about 2,486 species (including 937 species of freshwater fish and 1624 species of marine fish, of which 194 are endemic; Froese & Pauly 2017). Telangana State is located in the basin of two major rivers—Godavari and Krishna. These rivers with their major tributaries form the chief perennial river systems. Besides these there are a large number of seasonal streams, several man-made reservoirs, backwaters, and tanks in Telangana.
Very few studies have been conducted on the diversity of freshwater fishes in water bodies and reservoirs of both Andhra Pradesh (David 1963; Barman 1993) and Telangana (Rahimullah 1944; Mahmood & Rahimullah 1947; Chandrasekhar 2003; Rao et al. 2011). Till date, there are no studies available on the fish fauna of the reservoirs in Nalgonda District, Telangana.
To fill this lacuna, we conducted surveys on the ichthyofaunal diversity of Udayasamudram Reservoir, also known as Panagal Reservoir (17.07777778 N & 79.30277778 E), located on the eastern side of Panagal Village, near the town of Nalgonda, the district headquarters (Image 1). The main source of water in the reservoir is the inflow from the Krishna River through open-canal systems constructed for drinking and irrigation water supply, as well as from seasonal rains. The ayacut area is about 1,287 acres with a total catchment area of about 29.50km2.
The study was conducted from March 2013 to February 2016. Four sites were selected, and fish samples were collected using cast nets, gill nets, and other traditional methods with the help of local fishers. Specimens were collected, photographed, labelled, and preserved in 4% formalin solution. The voucher specimens (NHM.OU.F-K.01-2015 to 20-2015) and photo vouchers (NHM.OU.F-K-PV 01-2015 to 20-2015) are deposited in the Natural History Museum of Osmania University, Department of Zoology, Osmania University, Hyderabad. The fishes were identified up to species level using standard literature (Jayaram & Sanyal 2003; Talwar & Jhingran 1991; Jayaram 2010), and threat status of the fish was retrieved from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016 (IUCN 2016). Nomenclature of fishes follows Eschmeyer et al. (2016). The relative abundance of fishes observed during the present study has been represented in four different categories viz., (i) abundant (>75% of the total catch), (ii) common (>50% and <75% of the total catch), (iii) moderate (>25 % and <50 % of the total catch), and (iv) rare (>0% and <25% of the total catch).
A total of 38 species belonging to 15 families and 32 genera were recorded. Of the total, nine species were abundant, 12 species were common, 11 species were moderate and six species were rare in occurrence (Table 1; Images 2–36). No threatened species were observed while four species belonged to Near Threatened, and 34 to Least Concern categories of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Order Cypriniformes dominated with 14 species (representing 36.84% of the total fish diversity of the reservoir) followed by Perciformes with 10 species (26.31%), Siluriformes with nine species (22.50%), Beloniformes with two species (5.0%), Osteoglossiformes, Synbranchiformes and Anguilliformes with one species each (2.50% each). The maximum number of families were in the orders Siluriformes (Bagridae, Siluridae, Clariidae, Pangasiidae, and Heteropneustidae) and Perciformes (Channidae, Gobiidae, Cichlidae, and Ambassidae) followed by Beloniformes (Belonidae and Hemiramphidae). The rest of the orders had one family each.
The ichthyofaunal diversity of the Udayasamudram Reservoir is represented by species such as Gibelion catla, Labeo rohita, Cyprinus carpio, Cirrhinus mrigala, Mystus cavasius, Mystus vittatus, Channa striata, and Channa marulius, which were also reported as common species in the Krishna River system in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (Jayaram 2010).
Recent publications on fish fauna of Telangana are mostly in grey and predatory literature and have contributed to more confusion; therefore we do not have quality comparative studies to discuss our results with. Similarly, although Krishna River and its tributaries are known for their rich ichthyofaunal diversity (Jadhav et al. 2011; Dahanukar et al. 2012; Kharat et al. 2012), we refrain from comparing our results with those from the upper reaches of Krishna River due to geographical distance and the presence of only common species at Udayasamudram Reservoir.
As the Reservoir is meant for the supply of drinking water to Nalgonda Township and surrounding villages, culture of fish through cooperative societies are not allowed. There is no aquaculture practiced either by the State Fisheries Department or other private parties. However, some farmed fish species find their way to the reservoir through inlet canals connected to other lakes and the Alimineti Madhav Reddy Left Bank Canal of the Krishna River. Local communities and the State Fisheries Department need to take into cognizance the negative impact of such exotic fishes, and should avoid introducing them in to natural waters. We have detected the presence of Rhinomugil corsula in one of the lakes near the reservoir.
The reservoir is dependent on the water from the tributaries of the River Krishna and inundation due to monsoon rains. The surrounding area of the reservoir is used for agricultural purposes. The fish fauna of the Udayasamudram Reservoir is relatively less threatened by human activities, even though the use of agricultural chemicals, such as fertilizers and pesticides, may affect the fish population through monsoonal runoff. Hence, there is a need to take conservation management steps to prevent pollutants, by regular water quality checks. A holistic approach targeting conservation awareness activities, pollution mitigation measures and monitoring active or passive introduction of exotic species into the reservoir will help in the long-term retention of the ichthyofaunal diversity.
Although no commercial fishing activity is allowed, subsistence fishing by locals as well as natural causes keeps the fish population under check. It is also imperative to educate the locals and policy makers about the importance of freshwater fishes, the negative impacts of pollution and agriculture run-off. Educating the local people will help not only in conserving the fish diversity but also provide employment and livelihood.
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