No abstract

The present study was carried out to investigate seasonal distribution and relative abundance of fish fauna of a small hill stream Dangchaura (Takoli) Gad along with river Alaknanda. The differences in availability of fish-fauna were directly related to the nature of profile and slope of tributary; which affects the migration and breeding grounds of the fishes inhabited in the main river Alaknanda.

Summary Length–weight relationships were analysed for five commercially important freshwater fishes, namely, Bangana diplostoma (Heckel, 1838), Schizopyge niger (Heckel, 1838), Schizothorax curvifrons (Heckel, 1838), Schizothorax plagiostomus (Heckel, 1838) and Glyptosternon reticulatum (McClelland, 1842) from different water bodies in the Kashmir Valley, India. A total of 610 samples were collected between October 2013 and May 2015 using various indigenous cast nets. Of these five species, Schizopyge niger has a new maximum length record for the FishBase LWR database.

There is a significant taxonomic ambiguity among snow trout species due to their morphometric similarities. In view of this, a morphometric and molecular study was conducted on five different species of genus Schizothorax that have been reported from Kashmir valley. Morphometric data analyzed using multivariate statistics (Principal component analysis and cluster analysis) indicated the significant grouping of species to individual clusters. Mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene analysis revealed 0.2%-4.5% genetic divergence among the five species. This study confirms that utility of cytochrome oxidase I in species delineation along with morphometric data. Phylogenetic tree obtained using Neighbor-Joining method revealed that all the five species represented distinct species group. The Schizothorax genus formed two distinct clades; one containing S. niger, S. curvifrons and S. plagiostomus, while other clade containing S. esocinus and S. labiatus. This phlogeny trend was also supported by cluster analysis of morphometric characters. The phylogenetic analysis with other published COI sequences revealed distinct nature of these five species. The study may aid in the taxonomic identification of snow trout species in India. This may further increase the knowledge of the ichthyologists in planning conservation and management strategies for these important fish species along with their natural habitat.

No abstract

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The present study was aimed to characterize two important fish species of genus <em>Triplophysa</em> i.e. <em>Triplophysa marmorata</em> and <em>Triplophysa kashmirensis</em> from Kashmir valley by using morphometric and molecular tools. It is difficult to discriminate these two species due to the poor quality of the original descriptions and the lack of good reviews. Keeping this in view a morphometric and molecular study was conducted. Morphometric data were analyzed by using univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analyses (Principal component analysis) and mtDNA marker Cytochrome oxidase 1 was used for molecular support. Altogether, 22 morphometric characters were used and 15 characters were found significantly variable (P&lt;0.05). First two components of principal component analysis (PCA) i.e. PC1 and PC2 grouped these two species into separate clusters. The Cytochrome oxidase 1 analysis showed that the mean intraspecific nucleotide divergence (K2P) was 0.001 and interspecific nucleotide divergence was 0.007. Despite having low K2P divergence, these two species got separated into two distinct clades in both Neighbour joining (NJ) and Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) tree building methods. But the pattern of clade formation showed that these species were recently radiated from each other and may have the same ancestor. Furthermore, these two species were more close to Nemacheilidae than Balitoridae family in the phlyogenetic analysis. The molecular divergence between these species was also supported by variance in morphometric data. This work may build the base for the revision of taxonomic identity of these two important fishes of genus <em>Triplophysa</em>. The present investigation formulates that based on morphological and mtDNA COI sequences analysis these two taxonomic <em>Triplophysa</em> species should be considered as valid. The results may further assist to enhance the knowledge of the ichthyologists in understanding the ichthyofauna of Kashmir Valley and will help them in planning strategies for conservation and management of these less studied small indigenous species along their natural range of distribution.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The present study was aimed to characterize two important fish species of genus <em>Triplophysa</em> i.e. <em>Triplophysa marmorata</em> and <em>Triplophysa kashmirensis</em> from Kashmir valley by using morphometric and molecular tools. It is difficult to discriminate these two species due to the poor quality of the original descriptions and the lack of good reviews. Keeping this in view a morphometric and molecular study was conducted. Morphometric data were analyzed by using univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analyses (Principal component analysis) and mtDNA marker Cytochrome oxidase 1 was used for molecular support. Altogether, 22 morphometric characters were used and 15 characters were found significantly variable (P&lt;0.05). First two components of principal component analysis (PCA) i.e. PC1 and PC2 grouped these two species into separate clusters. The Cytochrome oxidase 1 analysis showed that the mean intraspecific nucleotide divergence (K2P) was 0.001 and interspecific nucleotide divergence was 0.007. Despite having low K2P divergence, these two species got separated into two distinct clades in both Neighbour joining (NJ) and Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean (UPGMA) tree building methods. But the pattern of clade formation showed that these species were recently radiated from each other and may have the same ancestor. Furthermore, these two species were more close to Nemacheilidae than Balitoridae family in the phlyogenetic analysis. The molecular divergence between these species was also supported by variance in morphometric data. This work may build the base for the revision of taxonomic identity of these two important fishes of genus <em>Triplophysa</em>. The present investigation formulates that based on morphological and mtDNA COI sequences analysis these two taxonomic <em>Triplophysa</em> species should be considered as valid. The results may further assist to enhance the knowledge of the ichthyologists in understanding the ichthyofauna of Kashmir Valley and will help them in planning strategies for conservation and management of these less studied small indigenous species along their natural range of distribution.</span></p>

Length-weight relationships (LWRs) are described for 10 fish species belonging to three families from the Jhelum and Poonch River, tributaries of the Indus river basin in India. LWRs for these species were unknown to FishBase and new maximum lengths are recorded for three species. These results will be useful for fishery research, management and conservation in these tributaries of Jammu and Kashmir.

Parthenium hysterophorus L. is a weed of global significance causing severe economic, environmental, agricultural, biodiversity, livestock, and human health problems. It is a highly noxious, invasive plant species of subtropical America and quickly spreads almost in all climatic conditions of the world. The weed has been spread almost in every part of every state of India including Uttarakhand. P. hysterophorus was observed to spread from sub-tropical climatic conditions to the temperate region up to 2200 m asl in Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. It has severely affected the habitats of native plant species. P. hysterophorus is an annual herb that starts to grow during March-April and remains till last of the November-December. The infestation of Parthenium has been maximum during the summer and abolished during the winter season. Regular field visits and surveys were made during the growing season (2018- 19) from foothills to higher ridges of the study areas. The highest density value (729000 ind ha-1 ) for P. hysterophorus was recorded at the Chauras site followed by Rishikesh (554000 ind ha-1 ) and the Badshahithaul site (417000 ind ha1 ) whereas, the lowest density value for this weed was recorded at the Ranichauri site (61000 ind ha-1 ). P. hysterophorus was determined to be the dominating plant species in most of the survey sites based on density, basal cover, and the Importance Value Index (IVI). However, the dominance of P. hysterophorus in most of the study sites is a signal of probable threat to the associated species. Plant species degradation caused by high anthropogenic pressure would provide appropriate circumstances for Parthenium weed to invade, presenting a major threat to the ecological balance of the region. The aim of present study to investigate infestation of Parthenium weed with altitudes wise in Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India.