Biodiversity of Fishes in Tajan River (Mazandaran Province)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Departmentof Fisheries, Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Sari, Iran

2 Departmentof Fisheries, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj

Abstract

Diversity, abundance and distribution of fishes in Tajan River were studied from March 2008 to
July 2009. Tow sampling stations were selected along the River in up and down of the Shahid
Rajaii Dam. A total of 2996 specimens were caught using electrofishing. The specimens were
belonged to 9 species from 4 families: Capoeta capoeta gracilis, Alburnoides bipunctatus,
Barbus mursa, Barbus lacerta, Luciobarbus capito, Squalius cephalus, Cobitis taenia,
Paracobitis malapteruraandNeogobius fluviatilis. The results showed that species diversity
and richness index coefficients of the upstream station of the dam were lower than those of
the downstream station (P<0.05), but there were no significant differences in dominance and
similarity indices between the two stations. The present study indicates that the dam, as a
human-made construction, has influenced the fish diversity in up- and down-stream of the
river.

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