With the name of ALLAH,

The Beneficent andMost merciful

Exploring the fish fauna of upper Swat River, Northern

Pakistan

AKHTAR SHAH1, FARZANA PARVEEN2 AND BAKHT NAWAB3

1M.Sc Student, 2Chairperson, Department of Zoology, Hazara University, Garden

campus, Mansehra and 3 Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, AKL

post Graduate College Matta, Distt Swat

INTRODUCTIONSwatLush green & historic

valley,T.A 5337 km,Population, 125760River SwatOriginates from

Kohistan, T.L 250 kmProvides a habitat to

many Fish speciesStudy on specified

area

ObjectivesObservation of

fish fauna of a particular part

Ecotonal habitat is of special significance

Population dynamics after historical flood

METHOD AND MATERIALSStudy area was divided into 3 zones1) K. Khela to Shen 2) Shen to Baghdaire

3) Baghdaire to QandilCollection was done from specific sitesMaterialsCast net, automatic rods, hook net, hand

net and locally adopted divicesPrservationCaring the collectionMeasurements and laboratory workIdentification

RESULTS 9 fish species were

identified Oncorhyncus mykiss Schizothorax

richardsonii Carassius auratus Crossocheilus

diplocheilus Schistora alepidota Glyptosternum

reticulatum Cyprinus carpio Triplophysa choprai Triplophysa naziri

Rainbow trout, Oncorhyncus mykiss (Walbaum, 1792)

Classification K: Animalia; P: Chordata;

C: Actinoperygii; O: Salmoniformes; Family:

Salmonidae Compressed and elongate

body, Head moderate, large and

superior eyes Dorsal fin moderate,

elongate adipose dorsal fin, caudal fin forked

Mouth lanceulate Olive green to steely blue,

small dark spots on the body

Distribution

Snow trout, Schizothorax richardsonii (Tilak, 1987)

O: Cypriniformes; F: CyprinidaeAbundatly found species, collected from various places

Body strem lined, 4.1 to 6.2 times..Mouth inferior, transverse, barbells two pairs

Dorsal fin strong, serrated and mid way b/w snout tip

Steel gray, lighter bellow, belly yellowish white, body with small dots, caudal fin yellowish, dorsal fin grayish.

Gold fish/ gold carp, Carassius auratus (Day, 1877)

O: Cypriniformes; F: CyprinidaeMany species collectedBody stout, high and compressed, Head small and slightly compressed.Mouth small, terminal and oblique,

upper jaw protictileDorsal fin srong, anal quarish,

pectoral roundedOlivacious bronze to deep golden,

belly silvery white, fins dark olive green.

Kashmir latia, Crossocheilus diplocheilus (Heckel, 1838)

O: Cypriniformes; F: CyprinidaeMany species collected, no importanceBody stout and thickHead flat and compressed, eyes

moderateMouth inferior, barbells two pairsScales moderatevariable in colour, usually brownish on

back with irregular spotsCaudal fin gray, dorsal with pink

Sundali, Shistora alipidota (Mirza and Banarescu, 1970)

O:Cypriniformes; F:BalitoridaeFive species collected, no importanceBody cylindrical, Head obtuseMouth semicircular and ventral in

position, barbles three pairs, nostrils closed to each other

Eyes small, not visible under side, Head spotted, dark spot on the

origin of dorsal fin; dark band of caudal fin base

Chakaar machlee, Glyptosternum reticulatum (McClelland, 1842)

O: Siluriformes; F: Sisoridae25 species collected, delicious

fishBody elongateHead flat and roundedMouth inferior, four pair of

barblesEyes are of 7% of the head

lengthHead length is about 20% of

total lengthBehind dorsal fin having adipose

finSome bluish, yellowish, stone

like colour

Conclusions References During the present

study 9 species were collected.

Minimum fish species collected belong to family Salmonidae

Maximum fish species collected belong to family Cyprinidae

The collected fish species were preserved, identified and labeled.

Widely distributed fish species found in the area was Schizothorax richardsonii.

Ahmad, N. D. and Mirza, M. R. (1963) Loaches of genus Noemacheilus Hasselt from Swat state, West Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Science. 15:75-18.

Butt, A. J. (1986) Fish and fisheries of North West Frontier province (N.W.F.P) Pakistan. Biology Special Supplement. Department of Zoology University of Peshawar

Pakistan. 23-26.District Census Report. (1999) Population Census organization, statistic division. Government of Pakistan, Islamabad.

Hayat, R. (2007) Saving River Swat from growing pollution. Dawn the internetEdition.http//www.dawn.com.1-2.

Jayaram, K. C. (1999) The freshwater fish of the Indian Region. Nondara publishing House: Delhi, India. 14-285.

04/12/2023 12