Identification of fish fauna in Gamasiab River in Kermanshah province basin

Fish fauna at three stations along the Gamasiab River, Kermanshah Province, were investigated for 9 months. Samples were caught using electroshocker and cast net of 1.5 cm mesh size and had their 20 morphometric and 10 meristic characteristics recorded. Twenty three species and subspecies in 14 genera and 5 families were identified, including: minnows (Cyprinidae), sisorid catfishes (Sisoridae), bagrid catfishes (Bagridae), river loaches (Balitoridae) and spiny eels (Mastacembelidae). The highest number of species (18, 78.3%) and genera (10, 71.4%) belonged to Cyprinidae, while 2 species (8.7%) in 1 genus (7.1%) belonged to Balitoridae; the other three families each contained 1 genus and 1 species (4.3%). The lowest species diversity (9 species) was observed in upstream station while the highest diversity (16 species) was in downstream station. Among the identified fish, only Pseudorasbora parva was recognized as exotic and the others were native.