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Bihar provides considerable potential for the development of inland fisheries and aquaculture, in addition to its abundant aquatic bioresource potential. In order to look into the ichthyofaunal variety of Siwan, Bihar, data were gathered over the course of a year in 2021–2022, with the assistance of knowledgeable local fish growers and fishermen from various parts of the district. Lakes, ponds, irrigation canals, and rivers (Ghaghara, Daha) were the sources of the collections. Sixty-two fish species from twenty families, forty genera, and eight orders were discovered throughout the research period. With 22 species (35.48%), the Order of Cypriniformes was the most dominant, followed by Siluriformes with 20 species (32.25%) and Perciformes with 9 species (14.51%). The current study demonstrated that while SIWAN has a high diversity of fish, appropriate conservation measures are needed to preserve the district's sustainability and species richness.

The main objective of this research paper is to study the ichthyofaunal diversity in and around river Ghaghra in Siwan district (Bihar), India.

The difficulty of finding uncommon species and the underlying complexity of the environmental template make it difficult to quantify patterns of variety at the species level, even when the creatures are known to science. According to Winter and Hughes (1997), biodiversity is the variance in the genetic makeup and life forms of populations, species, groups, and ecosystems. The ability of biological systems to adapt to environmental changes is influenced by biodiversity, which is also necessary for ecosystems to produce goods and services like clean water and nutrient cycling (Rahbek and Colwell, 2011). Bihar provides significant potential for the development of inland fisheries and aquaculture, as well as great potential for aquatic bioresources. About 8.32% of the nation's overall fish diversity comes from the State (Lakra, 2010). In addition to 98.3 lakh ha of flood plain lakes and abandoned water, there are 18,350 km of rivers and canals, 2.36 lakh ha of reservoirs, 61 lakh ha of ponds and tanks that are home to aquatic resources. The state produces 2.11 million tonnes of fish in total from all of its resources (2021–2022). During the last few decades, the fish biodiversity of the state are declining rapidly due to introduction of exotic fish species (Dwivedi and Nautiyal, 2010; Pathak et al, 2011) and anthropogenic environmental degradation like urbanization, damming, abstraction of water for irrigation and power generation and pollution, which have subjected natural water bodies in general and rivers, in particular to severe stress with devastating effects on freshwater fish diversity (Lakra, 2010). The current state of ichthyofaunal variety was to be examined, and the first comprehensive description of fishes in district Siwan (Bihar) was to be provided.

Data Collection: The data were collected with the help of local skilled fishermen from different locations, fish   farmers and fish markets from different locations of SIWAN (Fig. 1) for 12 months during 2021-22. The latitude of Siwan, Bihar, India is 26.219621, and the longitude is 84.356658. Siwan, Bihar, India is located at India country in the Cities place category with the gps coordinates of 26° 13' 10.6392'' N and 84° 21' 23.9724'' E.

Sources : Rive Map Siwan, 2022

Table 1 : Fish diversity of SIWAN District (BIHAR).

Order	Family	Scientific name	Local/common name
Osteoglossiformes	Notopteridae	Chitala chitala	Moi/ knifefish
		Notopterus notopterus	Patra/ featherback
Cypriniformes	Cyprinidae	Amblypharyngodon mola	Dhawai
		Aristichthys nobilis	Bighead carp
		Aspidoparia morar	Moraki
		Catla catla	Bhakur/ Catla
		Cirrhinus mrigala	Nain/ Mrigal
		Cirrihina reba	Raia
		Ctenopharyngodon idella	Grass carp
		Cyprinus carpio communis	Common carp
		Cyprinus carpio specularis	Common carp
		Cyprinus carpio nudus	Common carp
		Hypophthalmichthys molitrix	Silver carp
		Labeo angra	Rain
		Labeo bata	Bata
		Labeo calbasu	Karonchh
		Labeo dero	Kalabans
		Labeo gonius	Kurai
		Labeo rohita	Rohu
		Osteobrama cotio	Gurda
		Puntius chola	Sidhari
		Puntius sarana	Barb/ Olive barb
		Puntius sophore	Pool barb
		Puntius ticto	Ticto barb
Siluriformes	Bagridae	Sperata aor	Whiskered catfish
		Sperata seenghala	Giant river-catfish
		Mystus bleekeri	Day’s mystus
		Mystus cavasius	Gangetic mystus
		Mystus menoda	Menoda catfish
		Mystus tengra	Tengara
		Mystus vittatus	Striped dwarf catfish
		Rita rita	Belgagra/ Rita
	Siluridae	Ompak bimaculatus	Pabda/butter catfish
		Wallago attu	Pahin/ Wallago
	Schilbeidae	Ailia coilia	Patasi/ Gangetic ailia
		Clupisoma garua	Garua
		Eutropiichthys vacha	Vacha
		Silonia silondia	Siland
	Sisoridae	Bagarius bagarius	Goonch
		Gagata cenia	Gagata
	Clariidae	Clarias batrachus	Mangur
		Clarias gariepinus	Bidesi magur
	Heteropneustidae	Heteropneustes fossilis	Singhi
	Pangasiidae	Pangasius pangasius	Pangas catfish
Perciformes	Channidae	Channa marulius	Sauri
		Channa punctatus	Sauri
		Channa striatus	Sauri
	Anabantidae	Anabas testudineus	Kawai
	Ambassidae	Chanda baculis	Chanri
		Chanda nama	Chanri
		Parambassis ranga	Chanri
	Cichlidae	Oreochromis mossambicus	Tilapia
	Nandide	Nandus nandus	Dhebari
Clupeiformes	Clupeidae	Gudusia chapra	Suhia
		Tenualosa ilisha	Hilsa/ Hilsa shad
Beloniformes	Belonidae	Xenentodon cancila	Kauwa
Synbranchiformes	Mastacembelidae	Mastacembelus armatus	Bam/ Zig-zag eel
		Mastacembelus pancalus	Malga/barred spiny eel
	Synbranchidae	Amphipnous cuchia	Andhasanp/Cuchia
Mugiliformes	Mugilidae	Rhinomugil corsula	Corsula
		Sicamugil cascasia	Yellowtail mullet
Tetraodontiformes	Tetraodontidae	Tetraodon cutcutia	Ocellated Pufferfish

Plate-1. Some Important fishes of Ghaghara River (Siwan)

Samples were taken from fish markets, lakes, tanks, rivers (Daha and Ghaghara), and irrigation canals.  The primary river, Ghaghara, runs the whole length of the district from west to east. One of the most significant rivers for catch fishing is this one. After being transported to the lab for additional research, the captured fish were first treated with 8% formalin for 48 hours, and then they were stored in 5% formalin.

Identification of Fishes: Fish identities were determined using either preserved or fresh specimens. The FAO Identification Sheets, Srivastava (2002), Day (1878), Talwar and Jhingran (1991), and ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System) Standard Report were the standard taxonomic keys used to identify them. Fish were gathered, and species-level identification was done.

The only freshwater fishing resources found in Siwan were capture fisheries from rivers, nullas, and irrigation canals, as well as culture fisheries from seasonal, permanent and cultural ponds. The majority of the fish species that are currently found in the river are either naturally reproducing or have escaped from the several bodies of water in the area. 62 fish species from 20 Families, 9 Orders, and 41 Genera were discovered during the current research (Table 1). The Order Cypriniformes (22 species) provided the most to the analysis, followed by the Siluriformes (20 species) and the Perciformes (9 species). Beloniformes and Tetraodontiformes shared just one species, whereas Clupeiformes, Mugiliformes, and Osteoglossiformes contributed two species each, and Synbranchiformes shared three (Fig. 2). The Family Cyprinidae included Amblypharyngodon mola, Aristichthys nobilis, Aspidoparia morar, Catla catla, Cirrhinus mrigala, C. reba, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Labeo angra, L. bata, L. calbasu, L. dero, L. gonius, L. rohita, Osteobrama cotio, Puntius chola, Puntius sarana, Puntius sophore, and Puntius ticto were the most abundant order (35.48%) (Fig. 3). The leading genus was Labeo, which had six species, followed by Puntius, which had four species. 20 species (32.25%) were provided by the Order Siluriformes. The Bagridae family of the Siluriformes accounted for 12.9% of all fish species, with the Schilbeidae coming in second at 6.45%, Sisoridae at 3.22%, Clariidae at 3.22%, Siluridae at 3.22%, Heteropneustidae at 1.61%, and Pangasiidae at 1.61%. The Perciformes family provided nine species, or 14.51%.  According to Figure 4, the major families of Perciformes were Channidae (4.83%) and Ambassidae (4.83%), followed by Anabantidae (1.61%), Cichlidae (1.61%), and Nandidae (1.61%).

Species that were prevalent in the district and found in the culture ponds were Catla catla, Labeo rohita, Cirrhinus mrigala, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, and Cyprinus carpio. In the ponds and rivers, tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) and C. carpio were observed. The common fish species in the seasonal ponds were Wallago attu, Clarias batrachus, Puntius spp., and Heteropneustes fossilis. Significant carp and catfish populations in India were also often reported in the rivers and irrigation canals.

The district of Siwan has 62 species of fish, indicating a high degree of fish variety. The riverine system's fisheries rely on a sizable number of species and a variety of fishing gear. The district's declining fish biodiversity is mostly due to habitat degradation, foreign fish invasions, and fishing pressure (Lakra et al, 2008; Lakra, 2010). The fish variety found in this research is lower than that found in previous reports (Pandey, 1999; Dwivedi et al, 2004)—it is 17 species lower in Pandey's 1999 report and 15 species lower in Dwivedi et al's 2007 report. This discrepancy may be due to the huge geographic regions covered in the prior studies. The richness and composition of fish communities are influenced by fishing pressure and environmental stress (Dwivedi and Nautiyal, 2010; Mayank et al, 2011; Kumar, 2012; Tamboli and Jha, 2012). The current study shows that the fish variety in the Siwan area (Bihar) is shifting.

Thirty species are documented in sections of the Ganga River at Allahabad, while reports of the existence of 87 fish species from the eastern portion of Bihar and 111 taxa from Bihar and Bihar exist (Srivastava, 2002; Lakra, 2010). According to Lakra (2010), the river Betwa, which is a tributary of the Ganga basin recognized under the First River - Linking Plan of India, is home to 63 fish species, 20 Families, and 45 Genera. More recently, the NBFGR in BIHAR documented 92 fish species from the Ganga River, representing 58 Genera and 24 Families. 56 species from 20 Families, 42 Genera, and 7 Orders were found in the Gomti River, according to another research (Sarkar et al, 2010). Bihar is home to around 123 different fish species, according to a recent evaluation conducted by NBFGR, Lucknow (Lakra, 2010).

Out of 123 species, around 33% are regarded as decorative, roughly 57% are possible food, and 10% are identified as prospective sport fish when Bihar's use pattern is evaluated (Lakra, 2010). Environmental hazards may arise from both natural and man-made sources, or from a mix of interconnected and cascading effects.  Preservation and wise use of natural resources.

Fig. 2 : Order-wise distribution of fish species.

Fig. 3 : Diagrammatic representation of % contribution in each Order.

Fig. 4 : Diagrammatic representation of the number of species occurring in each Family

Fig. 5 : Diagrammatic representation of the % contribution in each Family.

Following the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1992), resources became a worldwide problem. Fish taxa in BIHAR's freshwater resources are alarmingly declining at the moment as a result of several human activities. The overall pool diversity has been linked to a number of factors, including destructive fishing methods (Dwivedi and Nautiyal, 2010), the introduction of exotic species (Singh and Mishra, 2001; Lakra et al, 2008; Pathak et al, 2011), habitat alteration and water diversion (Jagera et al, 2001), low vegetation cover in the catchment areas, siltation, water abstraction, and low water velocity (Mayank et al, 2011); and. Though not much published literature is available on the threat status of fish species of BIHAR, yet it is fact that population of some species is constantly going down and there is an urgent need to protect the same for posterity. According to recent conservation assessment of NBFGR, a total of 20 freshwater fishes are categorized as threatened of which 9 under Endangered and 11 Vulnerable (Lakra, 2010). The Government of Bihar has declared endangered Chitala chitala as a State Fish and planning for its conservation is in process (NBFGR, www.nbfgr.res.in). Due to lack of previous sufficient information on occurrence and abundance of fish species of Siwan, is not possible to quantify the rate of decline in its diversity but this report would be useful as baseline data for any future assessment and conservation plan for fisheries. However, more awareness and motivation is required on the value of indigenous fish diversity and conservation of aquatic resources to ensure the sharing of benefits of its utilization in an equitable manner so that the aquatic ecosystem gets adequate time to recover its natural community structure (Lakra and Pandey, 2009; Lakra, 2010).

The abundant diversity of freshwater fish documented by this investigation can be used to inform ichthyofaunal diversity and management decisions in a scientific practice. Additionally, additional conservation initiatives are urgently needed in the Bihar region in order to preserve this unique freshwater heritage.

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