Not Available

Not AvailableFreshwater fishes from selected sites of three rivers Mahanadi, Mand and Kelo were collected for fish bio-diversity study from November,2011 to May,2012 of Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh. A total 61 species under 41 genera, 22 families and 7 orders were recorded. Five new entrants were recorded from the earlier studies as Eutropiichthys murius, Gagata gagata, Johnius gangeticus, Ompak pabda and Tor putitora. The fish species diversity was found maximum at Mahanadi with 54 species followed by 37 in Kelo and 30 in Mand river. On the basis of fre- quency distribution Mastacembelus armatus, Parambassis ranga, Sperata aor, Sperata seenghala and Xenentodon cancila were dominant species in Mahanadi river; Catla catla, Clarias batrachus, Cirrhinus mrigala were dominant in Mand river and Labeo rohita, Pangasius pangasius were in Kelo river respectively. The order Cypriniformes domi- nated the groups with 43.00% of the species richness followed by Siluriformes (29.50%), Perciformes (18.00%), Synbranchiformes (3.00%), Clupeformes (3.00%), Beloniformes (2.00%) and Osteoglossiformes (2.00%). Out of 61 species recorded, 16 species were found ornamental in nature, two species were endangered and seven were vulnerable category. Physico-chemical parameters for all three rivers were found suitable for fisheries.Not Availabl