Document of bibliographic reference 366397

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Fish community structure of two adjacent poorly known permanently open tropical estuaries Valapattanam and Dharmadam from the western coast of India

Abstract

The estuaries along the west coast of India provide fishery resources to sustain the livelihood of many traditional fishermen along the coast. However, the knowledge of the fish communities of these estuaries is very limited. In this context, fish communities in Valapattanam (VAL) (moderate size) and Dharmadam (DHA) (small size) located along the west coast of India were investigated by employing monthly field surveys from 2021 to 2022. A total of 172 species (135 finfishes (95 demersal and 40 pelagic) and 37 shellfishes (19 crustaceans, 18 mollusks)) were recorded from both estuaries. Acanthuriformes was the richest order (32 species), representing 23.7% of the total finfish count. Carangidae (11 species), Cynoglossidae (6), Mugilidae (6), Lutjanidae (5), Leiognathidae (5), Cyprinidae (5) Clupeidae (5), and Engraulidae (5) were the major finfish families. Among the shellfishes, Penaeidae (21.6%, 8 species) and Portunidae (18.9%, 7 species) contributed major shares to the species count. The number of finfish and shellfish taxa recorded from the estuaries was as follows: VAL, 114 and 30, and DHA, 111 and 35, respectively. Marine estuarine opportunist (MMO) was the major estuarine use fish guild in both the estuaries (VAL: 52%, DHA: 53%). The group carnivores were the most dominant feeding mode guild (63 species (37%)). Based on the IUCN criteria, 88 species were “least concern,” 66 “not evaluated,” nine “data deficient,” six “vulnerable,” and one each in “endangered” and “near threatened” categories. Nearly 94% of finfish, as well as shellfish, are of commercial importance both for consumption and as ornamental fish. Information on estuarine fishery resources is essential for their conservation and sustainable utilization as well as for planning management strategies for the future. The management of the estuaries is also discussed based on the fish community data gathered during this study. This dataset adds fish community data to the local, regional, and global datasets for estuarine fisheries. The management of the estuaries is also discussed based on the fish community data gathered during this study.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001033486200002

Bibliographic citation

Keezhedathu Chandroth, S.; Kalarikkal Jayakesan, J.; Giri Bhavan, S. (2023). Fish community structure of two adjacent poorly known permanently open tropical estuaries Valapattanam and Dharmadam from the western coast of India. Mar. Biodiv. 53(4): 56. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12526-023-01365-w

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true