ICHTHYODIVERSITY OF A SMALL COASTAL RIVER IN BANGLADESH

Abstract

Small rivers are often ignored in terms of conservation actions and biodiversity
management in Bangladesh. Despite having significant ecological and economic
importance of these rivers, there is limited study done so far. To partially fulfill
this gap, this study aimed to assess the fish and shellfish biodiversity of a small
coastal river named Tiakhali from southern Bangladesh. A total of 26 finfish and
7 shellfish species were identified where 50% of finfish and all of the shellfish
species were from the order Perciformes and Decapoda, respectively. Results
showed that 76.9% of finfish and all of the shellfish species were categorized
into the least concern category based on IUCN Red List. Estimated Shannon’s,
Margalef’s, Buzas & Gibson’s and Simpson’s indices were 1.189, 2.649, 0.435 and
0.435 for fish and 1.662, 0.758, 0.224 and 0.224 for shellfish, respectively. This study
showed that Tiakhali river’s fish biodiversity was comparatively smaller than big
rivers. The findings of this study might serve as a baseline for future works and
will help policymakers to pay attention to conserve such small rivers and their
biodiversity in future.