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Comprehensive Analysis of Fish Assemblages in Relation to Seasonal Environmental Variables in an Estuarine River of Indian Sundarbans

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Abstract

Fish distribution in relation to environmental variables was investigated in the Matla River of Sundarban estuarine system. A total of 64 brackish water species belonging to 38 families showing tropical and subtropical affinities were obtained upon monthly sampling of 1 year. The most abundant species were Harpadon nehereus, Gudusia chapra, Coilia neglecta, Coilia ramcarati and Liza parsia. Fish assemblages showed significant seasonal variation as was revealed from MANOVA. MDS ordination plot based on similarity in the fish assemblages revealed that premonsoonal season was distinguishable from the monsoonal and postmonsoonal seasons. Notable differences were also evident between monsoon and postmonsoon. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that salinity, acidity, inorganic phosphate concentration and dissolved oxygen were the most important environmental variables in determining the observed variation in fish assemblages. Seasonal succession of fish populations may be related to differences in life cycle and adaptation to prevalent ecological conditions. The study therefore suggests that environmental variations in terms of changing salinity and dissolved oxygen have significant influence in structuring estuarine piscine community in this region.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the local fishermen of Sundarbans and the Head of the Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, India for the facilities provided. Financial support from UGC-UPE and UGC-RFSMS project is thankfully acknowledged.

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  1. Aquatic Bioresource Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata, 700019, India

    Sudeshna Mukherjee, Atreyee Chaudhuri, Niloy Kundu, Sruti Mitra & Sumit Homechaudhuri

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  1. Sudeshna Mukherjee
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  2. Atreyee Chaudhuri
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Correspondence to Sumit Homechaudhuri.

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Mukherjee, S., Chaudhuri, A., Kundu, N. et al. Comprehensive Analysis of Fish Assemblages in Relation to Seasonal Environmental Variables in an Estuarine River of Indian Sundarbans. Estuaries and Coasts 36, 192–202 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9558-z

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