Identification and Abundance of Fish in the Godarkhosh River (Ilam Province)

This study was aimed to identify the fish species and their abundances in Godarkhosh River, Ilam Province. Sampling was done using an electro shocker device equipped by 200 volts electricity generator from 5 different stations throughout the river within 100 meters of each station. Fish specimens at each station were caught, in triplicates, according to the Zypyn method specified for closed condition. Samples were immediately fixed by formalin, transferred to the laboratory and identified based on their meristic and morphometric characteristics using the identification key books of fish. Results showed the presence of eight species belongs to three different families. Cyprinidae was the most abundant family (92.4%) with six species from different genera. Nemachilidae and Mastacembelidae families each by one species had also 6.28% and 1.31% of the species abundance, respectively. Fish species captured in this study were included Garra rufa, Cyprinion macrostomum, Capoeta trutta, Alburnus mossulensis, Carasobrbus luteus, Mastacembelus mastacembelus, Tor grypus, and Oxynoemacheilus frenatus. The most abundance species was Cyprinion macrostomum (31.3%) followed by the Alburnus mossulensis (29.4%) and G. rufa (24.4%). Mastacembelus mastacembelus (1.05%) had also the lowest abundance among the fish species.