Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Diversity of Mudskippers along the selective mudflats of mangroves of east coast of India

Volume 63 Issue 1

V. Ravi, G. Mahadevan and R. Bharathi

doi:10.6024/jmbai.2021.63.1.2165-16

Abstract

Mudskippers (Oxudercidae) a highly evolved group of fishes, are distributed exclusively in the mudflats of estuary and mangroves of Indo-West Pacific region. The distributional record of Indian mudskippers is rare and hence the present study was aimed to study the species diversity and assemblage of mudskippers in the mudflats environments of five major mangroves of east coast of India especially a selective part for sampling along the Sundarbans, Bhitarkanika, Coringa, Pichavaram and Muthupettai. The samples of mudskippers were collected from the mudflats by scoop net and handpicking methods. Mudskipper specimens were identified and preserved. Diversity indices were calculated for statistical analysis. The results revealed that, of the 17 species recorded, the genus Periophthalmus was the dominant group with 6 species, while the genus Boleophthalmus, Scartelaos and Parapocryptes were the next dominant group with 2 species each. Among the five stations for sampling of fishes, station (1) (Sundarbans) dominated with 17 species of mudskippers followed by station 2 (Bhitarkanika) (9 species), station 4 (Pichavaram) (7 species), station 5 (Muthupettai) (6 species) and station 3 (Coringa) (5 species). The species richness Margalef index (d) ranged between 7.966 (Station 1) and 14.826 (Station 3). Similarly, the species evenness (Pielou’s evenness index) varied from 0.765 (station 5) to 0.974 (station 2). The species diversity ndex (Shannon diversity index) varied from 0.568 (Station 3) to 1.146 (station 1). Monitoring of species diversity and the endemic nature of mudskippers helps to understand the health of the ecosystem as they act as ecological indicators of mudflats in estuaries and mangroves.

Keywords

Mudskippers, diversity, mudflats, mangroves, India

Date : 15-04-2021