A Study on Relationship between Water Quality Parameters and Fish Diversity in Freshwater Bodies in Chhattisgarh, Central India

The present study was conducted to assess the diversity of fish fauna in four freshwater bodies of Chhattisgarh, Central India and its association with some water quality parameters. Four freshwater bodies viz; Khutaghat dam (D1), Kori dam(D2), Minimata dam (D3) and Khudia dam(D4) of Chhattisgarh were sampled for assessment of fish faunal diversity and its association with environmental factors. All the sampled freshwater bodies were the fish species were caught in nets by using boats. During the course of study water samples from each freshwater body was collected to analyze them for different physico-chemical properties (temperature, transparency, pH, water conductivity, total hardness, total alkalinity, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, salinity, BOD and COD) through the standard protocols of APHA (2005). In order to reveal the association between the environmental factors and fish fauna Pearson’s Coefficient of correlation (two tailed) was conducted. The results reveal that a total of 49 fish species belonging to 09 orders, 18 families, 34 genera were found in the freshwater bodies of Chhattisgarh. Cyprinidae (42.85%), Bagridae & Clariidae (8.16%), Siluridae (6.122%), Schilbeidae and Centropomidae & Anabantidae (4.08%) were the most dominated families. Labeorohita was the most abundant (6.182%) freshwater fish species in the sampled freshwater bodies of Chhattisgarh. Despite the low fish diversity in the sampled freshwater bodies of Chhattisgarh, the Shannon’s index (H) varies from 2.36±0.08 (D4) to 2.90±0.09 (D3). A significant (p≤0.01; p≤0.05) correlation was reported between the physico-chemical properties of sampled freshwater bodies and fish diversity. These results illustrate that the fish diversity of freshwater bodies of Chhattisgarh is regulated by the environmental attributes. The results of this study clearly illustrate the requirement of prior management and conservation strategies for the freshwater bodies of Chhattisgarh Central India.