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Reconnoitre on ichthyofauna of Mahanadi River of India: shifting diversity down the river continuum and linking ecological traits with patterns in biodiversity

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Abstract

Anthropogenic alterations have paramount impacts on the alpha and beta diversity of aquatic resources, and fishes are predominantly susceptible to such impacts. Mahanadi River, one of the major peninsular rivers of India, has abundant fish resources, which play a significant role in supporting the fishers’ livelihoods. The exploratory study in the river conducted for three consecutive years recorded 148 species under 53 families. Cyprinids dominated the fish diversity with 41 species, followed by Bagrids (9) and Sciaenids (7). One hundred-one species under 29 families were reported from the freshwater stretch. With a total of 111 species reported under 48 families, the estuarine and tidal freshwater stretch was more speciose, due to marine migrant species which advent the estuarine and tidal freshwaters stretch for breeding and feeding purposes. Tikarpara, a conserved site within a sanctuary, was the most species-diverse as well as a species-even site. The study also recorded the extension of the distributional range of 3 fish species and also 4 exotic species from the river. The seasonal variations in diversity indicated that the deviations were not prominent in freshwater sites, whereas in tidal brackish water sites, species richness was relatively higher in post-monsoon, and species evenness was higher during monsoon. Taxonomic distinctness test showed that the average taxonomic distinctness was high for tidal estuarine locations as they harbour taxonomically distant fishes. The hierarchical clustering of sites showed the inordinate effect of river gradient and fragmentation on the fish community structure. Analyzing the key drivers of the assemblage structure of the entire river, salinity was the major deterministic factor, and within the freshwater stretch, the major influences were depth, transparency, and specific conductivity. The study concluded that, despite all of its ecological stresses, Mahanadi still supports rich fish diversity, yet there is a notable shift in the fish community structure. There is a need for integrating molecular and morphological tools for the taxonomic revision of many genera and species for proper in situ and ex situ conservation measures and to formulate future biodiversity management plans addressing to reduce the impacts of the ecological threats.

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Data availability

The study is a result of institutional project of the ICAR-CIFRI, and the data would be available on legitimate request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to ICAR, New Delhi and the Director, ICAR-CIFRI for the support to conduct the research. The authors thank the institute personnel who assisted during the research. The cooperation rendered by the fishers and local authority during sample collection is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are due to Dr. Vaisakh G. for helping to prepare the map of the river. The work was carried out under an institutionally funded project “Monitoring and benchmarking ecosystem health of major river systems in India” of ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, India.

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This study was funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.

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  1. ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata, 700 120, West Bengal, India

    Sajina A. M., Sangeetha Mohanachandran Nair, Srikanta Samanta, Samir Kumar Paul, Sanjay Bhowmick, Vikas Kumar & Basanta Kumar Das

  2. Kochi Research Station of ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, Kerala, India

    Deepa Sudheesan

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  1. Sajina A. M.
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Contributions

SAMConceptualization, data collection and field work, and article drafting.

SMNArticle drafting.

DSData collection.

SSWork co-ordination and data collection.

SKPData collection and field work (fish diversity studies).

SBData collection and field work.

VKData analysis.

BKDOverall guidance.

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Correspondence to Sajina A. M..

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A. M., S., Nair, S.M., Sudheesan, D. et al. Reconnoitre on ichthyofauna of Mahanadi River of India: shifting diversity down the river continuum and linking ecological traits with patterns in biodiversity. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 5684–5698 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31411-w

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