A Study of Freshwater Ichthyofaunal Diversity of Lakshmipuram Lake in Anakapalli District of Andhra Pradesh, India

The present study investigates the ichthyofaunal diversity of Lakshmipuram Lake in Anakapalli District of Andhra Pradesh state of India from January 2024 to December 2024, a vital freshwater body supporting ecological balance and local livelihoods. A total of 47 fish species were identified at different sites. Freshly collected fishes were carefully cleansed and photographed. They were preserved in 9-10% formalin solution. Fish species were identified using classical taxonomical observations. Among the identified 12 orders, the order Cypriniformes was dominant with 18 species which contributed to 37% followed by Siluriformes 10 (21%), Perciformes 3 (4%), Channiformes, Cichliformes, Anguilliformes each 3 (6%), Beloiniformes, Synbranchiformes each 2 (4%), while Cyprinodontiformes, Gobiiformies, Osteoglossiformes, Anabantiformes each 1 (2%). The population status of 11 species were abundant which contributed to 23% whereas 25 species were common contributing to 53%, 4 species were moderate by contributing to 8%, and the least percent of species i.e., 7 were represented as rare which contributed to only 14%. According to IUCN 2024, 36 species contributed around 77% are least concern (LC), 8 species contributed about 16% are near threatened (NT), about 2 species contributed to 4% are not evaluated (NE), and 1 species of 2% are data deficient (DD). As per the present study, the Lake is found good potential with variety of freshwater fish fauna.