STUDIES ON FISH DIVERSITY OF BIKHMA POND OF RATANPUR AREA, DISTRICT BILASPUR, CHHATTISGARH, INDIA

ZOOLOGY

The present study was conducted to document the Ichthyofaunal diversity of the Bikhama pond of Ratanpur area district Bilaspur Chhattisgarh India in the year July 2020 to August 2021. The Bikhama pond, is situated just below the hill named Ram Tekri in Ratanpur, is an ancient pond spread over an area of 22 acres. In the present study 30 species of 17 genera has been identified, which are belonging to 11 families of 6 orders. Cypriniformes has been found to be a dominant order with 13 species and has 43.33% contribution. Maximum 13 species are belonging to order Cypriniformes. Catla catla was a major contributor among carp species. A part from the Indian major carps threatened and endangered species Chitala chitala was recorded from the pond. the commercial value of the observed fishes was also studied The study indicates that Bikhama pond of Ratanpur district Bilaspur (C.G.) is a suitable place for shelter of large number of fish diversity. This freshwater body may provide congenial for conservation of regional Piscean faunal diversity, especially for local indigenous Pisces species. Suitable conservation measures should follow immediately to sustain the fish diversity in the region.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.