International Journal of Aquaculture, 2017, Vol.7, No.20, 126-133
126
Research Article Open Access
Diversity and Biology of Fishes in the River Debbis, Ethiopia
Kebede Tirfessa Urga, L. Prabhadevi
, Zenebe Tedesse
1 Department of Biology, Ambo University, Ethiopia
2 Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization (EARO), Fishery and Aquatic life research center, Sebeta, Ethiopia
Corresponding author Email
International Journal of Aquaculture, 2017, Vol.7, No.20 doi
Received: 20 Sep., 2017
Accepted: 17 Oct., 2017
Published: 24 Nov., 2017
Copyright © 2017
Urga et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Urga K.T., Prabhadevi L., and Tedesse Z., 2017, Diversity and biology of fishes in the river Debbis, Ethiopia, International Journal of Aquaculture, 7(20):
126-133 (doi
Abstract
This study on the longitudinal distribution pattern of fish fauna and fishing activities on Debbis River was carried out
during January to March, 2017. Fishes were sampled by using electro fishing and data on the total length and weight were measured.
The cyprinids,
Garra quadrimaculata
,
Garra chebera
,
Varicorihinus beso
,
Labeobarbus forskalii
and
Labeobarbus intermedius
were
observed. The species
Garra quadrimaculata
and
Garra chebera
are the most dominant species followed by
Varicorhinus beso
.
Shannon diversity index (H’) ranged from 1.05 to 1.52. Condition factor of the dominant species indicated that the fishes were in
good condition with the mean value > 1.00. The highest condition factor value was that of
Varicorhinus beso
and
Garra chebera
from site two (Deb
2
). Males of
Varicorhinus beso
and females of
Garra chebera
were found in better condition. The gut content
revealed that the fishes are omnivores.
Labeobarbus forskalii
,
Varicorhinus beso
and
Labeobarbus intermedius
are commercially
important and the price is influenced by marketing site, season, size of fish and demand. Fishing is mainly artisanal using cast net,
hook and poisoning with the seed of
Millettia ferruginea
during dry season.
Keywords
Diversity; Debbis River; Condition factor; Frequency of occurrence
1 Background
Inland fisheries are particularly important for the food security of poor people, as most inland fish production goes
for subsistence or local consumption (FAO, 2004). In Ethiopia, most of the fish catch comes from the lakes and
reservoirs (85%) and the rest comes mainly from the rivers (MOARD, 2009). Ethiopia has a rich diversity of
ichthyo-fauna in its lakes, rivers and reservoirs, although they are poorly of known (Ameha and Assefa, 2004).
About 94 species of fishes has described in Ethiopia (Tedla, 1973). Of the drainage systems, White Nile basin
accommodates the highest diversity of fish fauna (Tesfaye and Wolff, 2014). The structure of a fish community is
determined by the species present, their relative abundances, their life stages and size distributions, and their
distributions in space and time (Meador et al., 1993). According to Golubtsov and Mina (2003), the total number
of valid fish species known from Ethiopian waters was between 168 and 183 including 37-57 countrywide
endemics. Getahun (2005a; b; c) reported 38 species and two sub-species endemic to Ethiopia. Currently, it is
estimated that over 200 species of fish and numerous other aquatic resources occur in Ethiopian drainage systems
(Habteselassie, 2012). Riverine fishing activities are concentrated on two of the rivers, Baro near Gambella
western part of the country and the Omo in the southern area near the border with Kenya (Abegaz et al., 2010).
Riverine fishery is not developed due to lack of access to suitable fishing grounds and the culture of most
communities (Tigabu and Abegaz, 2007) and hence many of the drainage basins are not exhaustively explored
(Getahun, 2002). The Rivers Didessa and Gudder, drains to the southwestern parts of Ethiopia are the tributaries
of Blue Nile (Abay) basin. Debbis River is one of the tributaries of river Gudder which has not been explored for
the fish population potential and socio-economic benefits due to difficult accessibility, security and harsh
geographical features of the area. Therefore, the present study has been conducted to collect a baseline data on the
diversity fish fauna, food habits, fishing and marketing activities along the course of River Debbis.
2 Results and Discussion
2.1 Numerical abundance and species composition
All the fishes collected belong to family Cyprinidae. The predominance of cyprinids was earlier reported from
