FISH SPECIES DISTRIBUTION AND DIVERSITY INDICES OF KISHTWAR WATERBODIES- J&K, INDIA

Fish fauna is an essential component of the aquatic ecosystem, and any changes in the medium in which they live can have an impact on their productivity, diversity, and distribution. From 2016 to 2018, an inventory was carried out to investigate the diversity, distribution, richness and evenness of fish assemblages from waterbodies in Kishtwar district of Jammu & Kashmir state. Dominance, Shannon index, Margalef index, Equitability, Evenness and Simpson indices were calculated for the study stations. The investigation revealed the presence of four fish species belonging to four genera, three families and three orders. Cyprinidea fishes had the highest species richness (50%) followed by Salmonidea (25%) and Sisoridae (25%). The findings revealed a significant decrease from upstream to the river estuary. Oncorhynchus mykiss and Cyprinus carpio were reported for the first time by the author from the study area.