Diversity of freshwater molluscs from the upper Brahmaputra Basin, Assam, India
Main Article Content
Abstract
A field survey was conducted for three consecutive years, 2015–17 to assess the diversity of freshwater molluscs (Gastropoda and Bivalvia) of the upper Brahmaputra Basin in Assam, India. Altogether, 18 gastropods and 27 bivalve species representing nine families were recorded from 17 sampling stations comprising small to large tributaries and wetlands in the flood-plains covering a total geographical area of approximately 3,500km2. A large fraction (15.55%) of the collected mollusc species are new records from the upper Brahmaputra Basin of Assam. Rarity in the occurrence of freshwater mollusc was confirmed with singleton and doubleton species accounting for 6.66% and unique species accounting for 35.55% of the total species recorded. It was observed that most of the mollusc species of the upper Brahmaputra Basin are either in the ‘Least Concern’ or ‘Data Deficient’ category of the IUCN Red List; except for Lymnaea ovalior (Annandale & Prashad, 1921) and Sphaerium austeni Prashad, 1921 assessed as ‘Vulnerable’ and ‘Near Threatened’, respectively. A significant trend in the diversity in terms of species richness and composition was observed across the sampling stations of the northern basin and southern basin of the river Brahmaputra.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors own the copyright to the articles published in JoTT. This is indicated explicitly in each publication. The authors grant permission to the publisher Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) Society to publish the article in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. The authors recognize WILD as the original publisher, and to sell hard copies of the Journal and article to any buyer. JoTT is registered under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which allows authors to retain copyright ownership. Under this license the authors allow anyone to download, cite, use the data, modify, reprint, copy and distribute provided the authors and source of publication are credited through appropriate citations (e.g., Son et al. (2016). Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the southeastern Truong Son Mountains, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(7): 8953–8969. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2785.8.7.8953-8969). Users of the data do not require specific permission from the authors or the publisher.
References
Annandale, N. (1918). Aquatic molluscs of the Inlé Lake and connected waters. Records of the Indian Museum 14: 103–182.
Appleton, C.C. (1978). Review of literature on abiotic factors influencing the distribution and life cycles of bilharziasis intermediate host snails. Malacological Review 11: 1–25.
Aravind, N.A., K.P. Rajashekhar & N.A. Madhyastha (2010). A review of ecological studies on patterns and processes of distribution of land snails of the Western Ghats, India. In: Proceeding of World Congress of Malacology. Phuket, Thailand, 222pp.
Aravind, N.A., N.A. Madhyastha, G.M. Rajendra & A. Dey (2011). The status and distribution of freshwater molluscs of the Western Ghats pp. 49–62. In: Molur, S., K. Smith, B.A. Daniel & W. Darwall (compilers). The status and distribution of freshwater biodiversity in the Western Ghats, India. IUCN, Cambridge, UK and Gland, Switzerland and Zoo Outreach Organization, Coimbatore, India, 116pp.
Baruah, D. (2007). Physico-chemical properties of soil and quantitative analysis of a herbaceous community after blowout of an oil well. Nature, Environment and Pollution Technology 6(2): 251–258.
Benson, W.H. (1836). Descriptive catalogue of a collection of land and freshwater shells, chiefly contained in the Museum of Asiatic Society. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 5: 741–750.
Benson, W.H. (1850). Characters of several new east Indian and South African Helices, with remarks on some other species of the genus occurring at the Cap of Good Hope. Annals and magazine of natural history Ser. 2 V: 213–217.
Benson, W.H. (1865). New land-shells from Travancore, western and northern India. Annals and Magazine of Natural History Ser. 3 XV: 11–15.
Bertness, M.D. (1984). Habitat and community modification by an introduced herbivorous snail. Ecology 65(2): 370–381. https://doi.org/10.2307/1941400
Blanford, W.T. (1863). Descriptions of Cremnobates syhadrensis and Lithotis rupicola, two new generic forms of Mollusca inhabiting cliffs in the Western Ghats of India. Annals and Magazine of Natural History Ser. 3, 12(69): 184–187.
Blanford, W.T. (1870). Contributions to Indian malacology, No. XI.-Descriptions of new species of Paludomus, Cremnoconchus, Cyclostoma and Helicidae from various parts of India. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 39(2): 9–25.
Blanford, W.T. (1880). Contributions to Indian Malacology, No. XII.-Descriptions of new land and freshwater shells from southern and western India, Burmah, the Andaman Islands. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 49(2): 181–222.
Blanford, W.T. & H.H.G. Austen (1908). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Mollusca - Testacellidae and Zonitidae. Taylor & Francis, London, 311pp.
Bozelli, R.L. (1992). Composition of the zooplankton community of Batata and Mussurá Lakes and of the Trombetas River, State of Pará, Brazil. Amazoniana 12(2): 239–261.
Budha, P.B., N.A. Aravind & B.A. Daniel (2010). The status and distribution of freshwater molluscs of the eastern Himalaya, pp. 42–53. In: Allen, D.J., S. Molur, S. & B.A. Daneil (Compilers). The Status and Distribution of Freshwater Biodiversity in the Eastern Himalaya. IUCN, Cambridge, UK and Gland, Switzerland and Zoo Outreach Organization, Coimbatore, India, 88pp.
C.P.C.B. (2005). The bio-map of perennial rivers of Assam. Downloaded on 30th January, 2020. http://www.cpcbenvis.nic.in/cpcb_newsletter/biomaping-assam.pdf
Camargo, A.F.M. & F.A. Esteves (1995). Influence of water level variation on fertilization of an oxbow lake of Rio Mogi-Guaçu, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Hydrobiologia 299(3): 185–193. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00767325
Colwell, R.K., A. Chao, N.J. Gotelli, S.Y. Lin, C.X. Mao, R.L. Chazdon & J.T. Longino (2012). Models and estimators linking individual-based and sample-based rarefaction, extrapolation and comparison of assemblages. Journal of Plant Ecology 5(1): 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtr044
Elder, J.F. & J.J. Collins (1991). Freshwater molluscs as indicators of bioavailability and toxicity of metals in surface-water systems, pp. 37–79. In: Ware, G.W. (ed.). Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. Springer New York, USA, 222pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-69163-3
Fenchel, T. & L.H. Kofoed (1976). Evidence for exploitative inter-specific competition in mud snails (Hydrobiidae). Oikos 27(3): 367–376. https://doi.org/10.2307/3543455
Furch, K. & W.J. Junk (1985). Dissolved Carbon in a Floodplain Lake of the Amazon and in the River Channel. Mitteilungen des Geologisch-Paläontologischen Institutes der Universität Hamburg, 58: 285–298.
Giovanelli, A., C.L.P.A.C. Silva, G.B.E. Leal & D.F. Baptista (2005). Habitat preference of freshwater snails in relation to environmental factors and the presence of the competitor snail Melanoides tuberculatus (Müller, 1774). Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 100(2): 169–176. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0074-02762005000200010
Gotelli, N.J. & A.M. Ellison (2013). The measurement of biodiversity, pp. 449–482. In: Gotelli, N.J. & Ellison, A.M. (eds.). A Primer of Ecological Statistics, 2nd edition. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, 614pp.
Gutierrez, J.L., C.G. Jones, D.L. Strayer & O.O. Iribarne (2003). Mollusks as ecosystem engineers: the role of shell production in aquatic habitats. Oikos 101(1): 79–90. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3548346
Hamilton, S.K. & W.M. Lewis Jr. (1990). Basin morphology in relation to chemical and ecological characteristics of lakes on the Orinoco River floodplain. Venezuela Arch. Hydrobt’ol 119: 393–425.
Hussein, M.A., A.H. Obuid-Allah, A.A. Mahmoud & H.M. Fangary (2011). Population dynamics of freshwater snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) at Qena Governorate, upper Egypt. Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences 3(1): 11–22.
Kay, A.E. (1995). The Conservation Biology of Molluscs: Proceedings of a Symposium Held at the 9th International Malacological Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1986 (No. 9). IUCN.
Köhler, F., M. Seddon, A.E. Bogan, D.V. Tu, P.S. Aroon & D. Allen (2012). The status and distribution of freshwater molluscs of the Indo-Burma region, pp. 67–85. In: Allen, D.J., K.G. Smith & W.R.T. Darwall. (Compilers). The status and distribution of freshwater biodiversity in Indo-Burma. IUCN,, Cambridge, UK and Gland, Switzerland, 157pp.
Lacoursière, E., G. Vaillancourt & R. Couture (1975). Relation entre les plantes aquatiques et les gastéropodes (Mollusca, Gastropoda) dans la région de la centrale nucléaire Gentilly I (Québec). Canadian Journal of Zoology 53(12): 1868–1874. https://doi.org/10.1139/z75-220
Lewis, W.M., S.K. Hamilton, M.A. Lasi, M. Rodríguez & J.F. Saunders (2000). Ecological Determinism on the Orinoco Floodplain. BioScience 50(8): 681–692. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0681:EDOTOF]2.0.CO;2
Lydeard, C., R.H. Cowie, W.F. Ponder, A.E. Bogan, P. Bouchet, S.A. Clark, K.S. Cummings, T.J. Frest, O. Gargominy, D.G. Herbert, R. Hershler, K.E. Perez, B. Roth, M. Seddon, E.E. Strong & F.G. Thompson (2004). The global decline of nonmarine mollusks. BioScience 54(4): 321–330. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2004)054[0321:TGDONM]2.0.CO;2
Maltchik, L., C. Stenert, C.B. Kotzian & D. Pereira (2010). Responses of freshwater molluscs to environmental factors in Southern Brazil wetlands. Brazilian Journal of Biology 70(3): 473–482. http://doi.org/10.1590/S1519-69842010005000003
Ndifon, G.T. & F.M.A. Ukoli (1989). Ecology of freshwater snails in south-western Nigeria. I: Distribution and habitat preferences. Hydrobiologia 171(3): 231–253. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008146
Peterson, C.H. & R. Black (1987). Resource depletion by active suspension feeders on tidal fiats: influence of local density and tidal elevation. Limnology and Oceanography 32(1): 143–166. https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1987.32.1.0143
Prashad, B. (1920). Notes on Lamellibranchs in the Indian Museum. Records of the Indian Museum 19: 165–173.
Prashad, B. (1928). Revision of the Asiatic species of the genus Corbicula 1. The Indian species of Corbicula. Memoirs of Indian Museum 9: 13–27.
Preston, H.B. (1915). The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Mollusca (Freshwater Gastropoda and Pelecypoda) Taylor and Francis, London, 230pp.
Ramakrishna & A. Dey (2007). Handbook on Indian Freshwater Molluscs. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 399pp.
Rao, N.V.S. (1989). Handbook of Freshwater Molluscs of India. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 289pp.
Schiaparelli, S., C. Ghiglione, M.C. Alvaro, H.J. Griffiths & K. Linse (2014). Diversity, abundance and composition in macrofaunal molluscs from the Ross Sea (Antarctica): results of fine-mesh sampling along a latitudinal gradient. Polar Biology 37(6): 859–877. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-014-1487-9
Sicuro, B. (2015). Freshwater bivalves rearing: a brief overview. International Aquatic Research 7: 93–100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40071-015-0098-6
Sonowal, J. & D. Kardong (2020). Nutritional evaluation of freshwater bivalve, Lamellidens spp. from the upper Brahmaputra basin, Assam with special reference to dietary essential amino acids, omega fatty acids and minerals. Journal of Environmental Biology 41(4): 931–941. https://doi.org/10.22438/jeb/4(SI)/MS_1908
Stewart, T.W., J.G. Miner & R.L. Lowe (1998). Quantifying mechanisms for zebra mussel effects on benthic macroinvertebrates: organic matter production and shell-generated habitat. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 17(1): 81–94. https://doi.org/10.2307/1468053
Strayer, D.L., N.F. Caraco, J.J. Cole, S. Findlay & M.L. Pace (1999). Transformation of freshwater ecosystems by bivalves: a case study of zebra mussels in the Hudson River. BioScience 49(1): 19–27. https://https://doi.org/10.1525/bisi.1999.49.1.19
Thomaz, S.M., L.M. Bini & R.L. Bozelli (2007). Floods increase similarity among aquatic habitats in river-floodplain systems. Hydrobiologia 579(1): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-006-0285-y
Tockner, K., D. Pennetzdorfer, N. Reiner, F. Schiemer & J.V. Ward (1999). Hydrological connectivity and the exchange of organic matter and nutrients in a dynamic river-floodplain system (Danube, Austria). Freshwater Biology 41(3): 521–535. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2427.1999.00399.x
Vaughan, C.C., K.B. Gido & D.E. Spooner (2004). Ecosystem processes performed by unionid mussels in stream mesocosms: species roles and effects of abundance. Hydrobiologia 527: 35–47. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HYDR.0000043180.30420.00
Vinarski, M.V., I.N. Bolotov, O.V. Aksenova, E.S. Babushkin, Y.V. Bespalaya, A.A. Makhrov, I.O. Nekhaev & I.V. Vikhrev (2020). Freshwater Mollusca of the Circumpolar Arctic: a review on their taxonomy, diversity and biogeography. Hydrobiologia (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04270-6
Vincent, B., N. Lafontaine & P. Caron (1982). Facteurs influençant la structure des groupements de macro-invertébrés benthiques et phytophiles dans la zone littorale du Saint-Laurent (Québec). Hydrobiologia 97(1): 63–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014959
Wood, E. & S.M. Wells (1995). Sustainable utilization- The shell trade: a case for sustainable utilization, pp. 41–52. In: Kay, E.A. (ed.). The Conservation Biology of Molluscs. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.