Finfish And Shellfish Biodiversity of Kole Wetlands of Kerala, India

Abstract- The Kole wetlands are part of Ramsar site Vembanad-Kol which is highly diverse. The present study dealt with the biodiversity of finfish and shellfish of Kole wetlands of Kerala. Monthly sampling was carried out for a period of 11 months from August 2016 to June 2017. Nedupuzha, Konthipulam, Uppungal kadavu were the three sites in Kole wetlands selected for the sampling. During the present study 44 species of fin fishes belonging to 10 Orders, 20 Families and 34 genera were recorded Among Order Cypriniformes, a clear cut dominance of fishes belonging to Family Cyprinidae with fourteen species was recorded during the study. Ten species recorded during the study are endemic to the Western Ghats region of which four are endemic to Kerala. Five exotic species were also reported from the Kole wetlands. Out of 44 finfish species recorded during the study period 3 species are Vulnerable and 2 species are Near threatened according to IUCN category. This indicates the importance of conservation of native fishes of Kole wetlands. The diversity indices of fin fishes in Kole wetlands were estimated. Shannon diversity (H’), Margalef richness (d) and Pielou’s evenness index (J’) were estimated as 3.904, 3.690 and 0.889 respectively. Simpson dominance was estimated at 0.0872 and simpson dominance Index (1-λ) was 0.913. 3 species of freshwater prawn, one species of bivalve, one species of gastropod, and one species of crab were recorded during the study. Macrobrachium idella, Macrobrachium canare, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, Lamellidens marginalis, Pila sp., Siprotelphusa sp. were the shellfish species recorded from Kole wetlands of Kerala. Results of present study indicated that the Kole wetlands of Kerala are highly diverse and need to be conserved.