Diversity of Fishes in Jammu and Kashmir State

Abstract

The present chapter reports 120 species of fishes from various aquatic habitats in the Jammu and Kashmir State. Among these, 105 species occur in the Jammu region, 23 in the Kashmir Valley, while 15 species inhabit the Ladakh region. The variations in altitude and topography have led to different sequence of succession of the water bodies in different areas of the State, which has ultimately resulted in the colonization of these waters by different types of fishes. Across the State, eight species of fishes were found to be common in all the three regions, while nine species were common between the Jammu and Kashmir regions; Jammu and Ladakh and Kashmir and Ladakh each shared single species. Out of 23 species collected from the Jhelum river system in the Kashmir Valley, 18 species belong to order Cypriniformes (with 14 species from family Cyprinidae, 1 from Cobitidae, and 3 species from Balitoridae), 2 species to order Siluriformes (family Sisoridae), 2 to order Salmoniformes (family Salmonidae), while 1 species belongs to order Cyprinodontiformes (family Poeciliidae). High species diversity in the Jammu region is due to presence of warm water fishes, while low fish diversity and density in Ladakh may be due to high altitude and harsh climatic conditions of low temperature, frozen rivers during winter, and high turbidity during summer.