Species diversity and abundance of fish in the Shadegan Wetland, Khuzestan Province

Abstract

Introduction: The study of diversity and abundance of fish species in the study of aquatic
ecosystems is of particular importance. The purpose of this study is to investigate the
abundance and changes of heterogeneity and uniformity indices of fish species in the
Shadegan International Wetland in different seasons from October 2015 to September 2016.
Materials & Methods: In this study, a total of 3735 fish from 16 species and 6 families were
caught from five stations.
Results: Among the families, the highest abundance belonged to the family of carp
(Cyprinidae) and then the cichlids (Cichlidae), with 48% and 42%, respectively, and among
the fish species, Coptodon zillii, Carasobarbus luteus and Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi with
a large difference of relative abundance, 40.91, 10.25, and 12 respectively, had the highest
presence abundance. The highest heterogeneity index of Shannon-Wiener (1.85) and the
species richness of Margalef (2.32) were in the Sarrakhieh station and the highest uniformity
of Hill was in the Hadbeh station (0.85). The study of biodiversity indices in the different
seasons also showed that the highest species diversity of Shannon-Wiener (2.01) was
obtained in spring and the results of the T-test revealed that these indices were significantly
higher in spring than other seasons (P<0.05).
Conclusion: In short, the results of this research showed that it seems that the best way to
restore the wetland is its integrated management, taking into account the water needs of the
wetland, controlling non-native species and managing fishing.