First Record of the Ichthyofaunal Diversity of Bhagar Oxbow Lake, in Dumraon, South Bihar, India

Fishes are very important food resources in developing countries, due to high protein content and its nutritional value. The present study deals with Ichthyofaunal diversity of Bhagar oxbow Lake, in Dumraon, District, Buxar. Total of 44 freshwater fish species were listed that belonging to 30 genera, 16 families and 7 orders, described in the present study from February, 2018 to January, 2020. Among them Cypriniformes was the dominant order in term of species diversity that represent (16 species) while the Puntius is the most dominant genus, and held a major portion of the lake. Siluriformes (11 species), Perciformes represented with 6 species, Channiformes (4 species), whereas Mastacembeliformes & Clupeiformes represented (3 species) each and Tetraodontiforme represented only (1 species). Fish of the family Cypriniformes was the most abundant 37.20% of the total fish species followed by the family Siluridae 25.58% and Perciformes 13.95% were reported. Order Channiformes represent 9.30%, followed by the family Clupeiformes 6.97%, Mastacembliformes, 4.3% and Tetrodontiform represented with 2.32% of the total fish species. In the Bhagar oxbow lake, a large number of fish species have edible as well as ornamental and medicinal values. The species composition of ichthyofaunal diversity can also be better understand by this paper. This is the first ever study on the fish diversity and would help in explore the fish fauna and to develop a sustainable fishery practices need to Bhagar oxbow lake in Dumraon.