Mohammad Arshad Ul Alam

Finfish richness, their abundance, fishing gears and their catch in the upper Matamuhuri river were studied from January to December 2022 along the river course at hilly upstream of Bandarban Hill District. A total of 95 freshwater finfish species under 69 genera belonging to 36 families under 14 orders were recorded in this mountainous section of this river. Maximum number of species were recorded under the Family Cyprinidae (19 species) followed by Danionidae (11 species) and Bagridae (7 species). Amongst 95 finfish species 11 belonged to 'endangered' and 12 to 'vulnerable' category of threatened species and four were data deficient (e.g. Barilius barila, Balitora brucei, Eleotris lutea and Oryzias dancena) according to IUCN conservation status. Neolissochilus sp. and Golden Mahashol (Tor puttitora) are reported for the first time from the upstream of Matamuhuri River. A systematic list of recorded finfish with their English names, local names, abundance and conservation status is presented. Under eight categories, 16 types of fishing gears and their catch were documented of which two types of gears (Large push net-Haddi Jal and Bowl trap-Bati Trap) were new and not reported elsewhere earlier.

Faunal records are essential to understand, manage and conserve any ecosystem if altered due to anthropogenic or natural causes. In the south eastern Bangladesh five linked rivers, Karnaphuli, Halda, Sikalbaha, Chandkhali and Sangu play a significant role in the country‟s fisheries sector. In this study ichthyofauna of the three linked rivers, Karnaphuli, Shikalbaha and Chandkhali are presented. From these three important linked rivers a total of 130 ichthyofaunal species, of which 112 finfish and 18 shellfish species were recorded during May 2010 to February 2020. Out of 130 species of finfish and shellfish, 128 species (110 fin and 18 shell fish) from the River Karnaphuli, 85 species (74 fin and 11 shell fish) from the River Shikalbaha and 83 species (72 fin and 11 shell fish) from the River Chandkhali were recorded. A total of 112 finfish species including four exotics belonged to 20 orders, 47 families, and 90 genera and 18 shellfish species were under one order, 3 families and ...

Fish exploitation of the Halda River was investigated for two years period from January 2007 to December 2008 to know the variation of CPUA (Catch Per Unit Area kg.ha-1year-1) among the three studied sections, months and between two years. The mean CPUA for pooled data was 295.685, 433.219, 524.449 and 411.887 kg.ha-1year-1 for the year 2007 and 415.987, 636.808, 566.515 and 527.545 kg.ha-1year-1 for the year 2008 in upstream (section 1), midstream (section 2), downstream (section 3) and over the total study area of the River Halda respectively. Analysis of variance showed highly significant difference of CPUA among gears and months. No significant difference of CPUA was observed among sections. Combined CPUA during 2008 observed higher and statistically significant than previous year.

To determine the catch efficiency of fishing gears, catch per unit effort (CPUE)data were collected for two years during January 2007 to December 2008 from the river Halda. Analyses were done to examine the variation of CPUE among gears, studied sections, months and years. The mean CPUE for pooled data of all gears was 2.247±0.265 kg.gear-1day-1 and 2.697±0.355 kg.gear-1day-1 for 2007 and 2008 respectively. Among eight gear categories, bag nets yielded the highest CPUE during 2007 (5.957±0.704 kg.gear-1day-1) and seine nets during 2008 (7.288±1.477 kg.gear-1day-1). Among 31 gear types, small meshed bag nets yielded the highest CPUE (18.065±6.660 and 15.69±4.479 kg.gear-1day-1 during 2007 and 2008 respectively). CPUE was highest during March-April and September-November periods. Analysis of variance showed significant difference among catch rates of different fishing gears. The CPUE differed significantly among different months for net fence, gill net, cast net and scoop net during 2...

Fishing intensity of the Halda River was investigated for two years period from January 2007 to December 2008. The study examined the variation of number of fishing efforts among 34 gear types, 8 gear categories and three studied sections. Variations among months and between years were also studied. The total number of daily fishing efforts showed two peaks, the highest in October (0.6963 gear/ha/day with 24 types of gears during 2007 and 0.9068 gear/ha/day with 26 types of gears during 2008) and the 2 nd one in April (0.5881 gear/ha/day with 20 types of gears during 2007 and 0.5689 gear/ha/day with 21 types of gears during 2008). The mean value of daily fishing efforts was found 0.4661±1407 gear/ha/day during 2007 and 0.5015±0.1784 gear/ha/day during 2008.The net fence had the highest number of efforts (0.1375±0.0619 and 0.1484±0.0495 gear/ha/day during 2007 and 2008 respectively) among 8 gear categories followed by cast net (0.1096±0.0352 and 0.1217±0.0505 gear/ha/day). Analysis o...

Faunal records are essential to understand, manage and conserve any ecosystem if altered due to anthropogenic or natural causes. In the south eastern Bangladesh five linked rivers, Karnaphuli, Halda, Sikalbaha, Chandkhali and Sangu play a significant role in the country‟s fisheries sector. In this study ichthyofauna of the three linked rivers, Karnaphuli, Shikalbaha and Chandkhali are presented. From these three important linked rivers a total of 130 ichthyofaunal species, of which 112 finfish and 18 shellfish species were recorded during May 2010 to February 2020. Out of 130 species of finfish and shellfish, 128 species (110 fin and 18 shell fish) from the River Karnaphuli, 85 species (74 fin and 11 shell fish) from the River Shikalbaha and 83 species (72 fin and 11 shell fish) from the River Chandkhali were recorded. A total of 112 finfish species including four exotics belonged to 20 orders, 47 families, and 90 genera and 18 shellfish species were under one order, 3 families and ...

The horned carp, Schismatorynchos nukta (Sykes, 1839) has been recorded for the first time from Bangladesh geographical area under the investigated genus of Schismatorynchos (Bleeker 1855). This fish was collected from seine net catch while exploring the hilly upstream of Sangu river at Tindu and Remakri (Thanchi, Bandarban, Bangadesh) during the winter in 2015. The species S. nukta is mostly distributed in the upland tributaries of Krishna river systems at northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra and Karnataka in India. It is reported as endemic species of Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. Its distribution (IUCN status) and habitat conditions are dealt in the present paper. The findings add some information on its global distribution form and Indian endemic status.

Fishing intensity of the Halda River was investigated for two years period from January 2007 to December 2008. The study examined the variation of number of fishing efforts among 34 gear types, 8 gear categories and three studied sections. Variations among months and between years were also studied. The total number of daily fishing efforts showed two peaks, the highest in October (0.6963 gear/ha/day with 24 types of gears during 2007 and 0.9068 gear/ha/day with 26 types of gears during 2008) and the 2 nd one in April (0.5881 gear/ha/day with 20 types of gears during 2007 and 0.5689 gear/ha/day with 21 types of gears during 2008). The mean value of daily fishing efforts was found 0.4661±1407 gear/ha/day during 2007 and 0.5015±0.1784 gear/ha/day during 2008.The net fence had the highest number of efforts (0.1375±0.0619 and 0.1484±0.0495 gear/ha/day during 2007 and 2008 respectively) among 8 gear categories followed by cast net (0.1096±0.0352 and 0.1217±0.0505 gear/ha/day). Analysis o...

Biodiversity of fin-fish and shell-fish species in three sections of Halda River, Bangladesh were investigated for two years from January 2007 to December 2008. Proportion of average daily catch (in number) was used to obtain the diversity indices. Simpson index of diversity (D) (0.54 - 0.66), Shannon index (H) (0.25 - 0.32) (re-scaled), and Evenness (E) (0.27 - 0.35) were calculated for fin fishes and shell fishes for 3 sections covering 39 km of the river. A total of 1017 catch samples of 34 different types of gear were analysed. Species richness (S) was observed to be 92 (83 fin-fish, 9 prawn), belonging to 14 orders, 37 families, and 71 genera including 3 exotic species over the studied area. Maximum number of species were recorded under the family Cyprinidae (19 species) followed by the family Gobiidae (11 species). Fin-fish species richness (FSR) in this study was 83, which was higher than earlier records. The actual total fin-fish and shell- fish species richness including the previous records was found to be 120 (106 fin-fish, 14 prawn), which is much higher than some larger river systems of Asia. Species richness was higher downstream (71 and 83 species) then mid (67 and 72 species), and upstream (61 and 69 species) for the years 2007 and 2008 respectively. ANOVA showed no significant difference between the populations of two years (F = 0.0025, df = 1 and 47, p > 0.05) and among the populations of three sections (F = 0.0008, df = 2 and 47, p > 0.05).Three critically-endangered, nine endangered, and eight vulnerable fish species (as in IUCN 2000) were observed in the population. Strong dominance was observed for Corica soborna (55.1 %) followed by Macrobrachium rosenbergii (19.2 %), Setipinna phasa (11.8 %), Glossogobius giuris (6.9 %), and Macrobrachium villosimanus (2 %). Three exotic species comprised less than 0.001 % of the population. Suggestions are provided for protection, conservation, and sustainable yield of the fish population of Halda River.

Eighty-three species of finfish belonging to 13 Orders, 35 Families, and 69 genera including three exotic species, and 10 species of shellfish (crustaceans) under one order, 3 families and 3 genera were identified from the River Halda during September 2004 to December 2011. Thus a total of 93 species of Ichthyofauna (finfish and shellfish) were recorded from this river during the seven years (2004-2011) of investigation. Maximum number of finfish species were recorded under the family Cyprinidae (19 species) followed by the family Gobiidae (11 species), whereas maximum number of shellfish species were recorded under the family Palaemonidae (8 species) followed by Penaeidae (1 species) and Portunidae (1 species). Of the 83 finfish species, three belonged to the critically endangered, nine to the endangered and eight to the vulnerable category according IUCN (2000). Four species of finfish were new records from inland waters of Bangladesh. A systematic list of the ichthyofauna with local and English names, and habitat preference are provided.