ICHTHYOFAUNAL DIVERSITY OF THE FRESHWATER SWAMP FOREST RATARGUL, SYLHET, BANGLADESH

Abstract

An ichthyofaunal study in the Ratargul swamp forest, north Sylhet was carried out from July 2014 to June 2015 resulted in the collection of 37 species of fishes belonging to nine orders and 21 families. Order Cypriniformes dominated contributing 27.03% of the total fish. Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H’), the Margalef species richness (d), the Pielou’s evenness index (J’) and the Simpson dominance index (c) were calculated as 2.28±0.294, 5.18± 1.23, 0.96±0.013 and 0.96±0.012. SIMPER analysis divulged the highest dissimilarity (56.22%) in between the January-August group and lowest (10.07%) in the July-August group. Non metric-multidimensional scaling (nMDS) showed 50% similarity for all months, while 80% similarity showed four separate clusters among all months. Wise use of this wetland and establishment of fish sanctuary are suggested for long-term conservation of the native fish species and the ecosystem