Water Quality Assessment Based on Fish and Macroinverbrate Diversity Indices of River Mara Bharali in Assam, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17501/23861282.2019.5101Keywords:
R.Mara Bharali, macroinvertebrate, diversity index, Cyprinids, aquatic insects, habitat qualityAbstract
Fish and macroinvertebrate diversity was studied in the river Mara Bharali at Tezpur in
the Sonitpur district of Assam as no such enumerative works on the river system was done
previously. Five sampling stations (MB1, MB2, MB3, MB4 and MB5) covering a stretch of 16.5
kms were selected from Pumpani village (sampling station MB5, N-26º45'10.52" and E92º50'07.93") to Maithan (sampling station MB1, N-26º37'05.69" and E-92º49'34.34"). Fishes and
invertebrates were collected and identified following relevant literatures. Thirty four (34) species of
fishes of 25 genera, 08 orders and 17 families has been recorded. Cyprinids were found to be the
most dominant group with 12 representative species. Twenty (20) species of aquatic insects
belonging to 13 families and 7 orders were found. Moreover, six (06) molluscan species belonging to
5 different families were also recorded. Shannon diversity index (H) for macroinvertebrates was
highest in sector MB1 (4.468). Pielou equitability index (J) was highest at MB4 (0.9805). The value
of Margalef index (Ma) was highest at MB4 (3.831) and lowest at MB3 (1.861). Sector-wise
diversity indices of macroinvertebrates reflect the ecological status of river Mara Bharali. The
macroinvertebrates of all the sites are evenly distributed as the calculated value of J is close to 1. On
the basis of the value of macroinvertebrate diversity index, it may be concluded that river Mara
Bharali is quiet healthy at sectors MB1, MB4 and MB5 as the Margalef index is greater than 3.
However, sectors MB2 and MB3 are likely to be polluted as the value of Ma is less than 3.
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