Abstract

The Halda River of Bangladesh has immense importance as it is the only natural spawning ground of major carp fishes. In the present survey, the overall fish distribution and biodiversity from the upper portion of Halda River along with its two tributaries were studied. The sampling stations were Nazirhat Bridge, Sattarghat Bridge and Garduara. Fishes were collected directly from sampling stations two times in a month during the period of January to December, 2012. The species diversity was analyzed using the following diversity indices: Simpson dominance index (D); Simpson index of diversity (1-D); Shannon–Weiner index (H); Evenness index and Margalef index with the help of software PAST (Pale ontological Statistics Software Package for Education and Data Analysis). Totally 4,337 individuals of fish were counted. 63 species belongs to 24 families and 51 genera were recorded. The most abundant family was Cyprinidae, having 817 individuals (18.84%) followed by Gobiidae family with 629 individuals (14.50). Simpson index of diversity (1-D), Shannon–Weiner index (H) and Margalef index showed higher values at sampling site S_3.

Key words: Halda River, diversity indices, conservation status, fish diversity, exotic species.