A study on fish composition in the Air Hitam River, Pekanbaru, Riau Province

Abstract

The Air Hitam River was inhabit by numerous fish species, information on these fish
however is almost none. To understand the composition of fish in that river, a study has
been conducted from February to March 2014. There were 3 sampling sites, in the
upstream (S1), middle (S2) and downstream (S3) of the river. The fish was sampled
using several net types (mesh size 0.1 – 1.0 inch), electrofoshing and line fishing. Data
were then analyzed to find out the diversity (H’), evenness (E) and dominance (C)
index. The fish sampled were identified based on Kottelat (2013). The fish species
present were consisted of 34 species (15 families). There were Notopterus notopterus,
Cyclocheilichthys apogon, Desmopuntius gemellus, D. hexazona, Esomus metallicus,
Hampala macrolepidota, Labiobarbus leptocheilus, Osteochillus vittatus, Parachela
oxygastroides, Rasbora argyrotaenia, R. einthovenii, R trilineata, Tynnichthys
polylepis, Trigonopoma gracile, Pterygoplichthys pardalis, Ompok rhadinurus,
Pseudeutropius brachypopterus, P. moolenburghae, Mystus nigriceps,
Hemirhamphodon pogonognathus, Poecilia reticulata, Monopterus javanensis,
Pristolepis grooti, Oreochromis niloticus, Anabas testudineus, Helostoma temminckii,
Belontia hasselti, Osphronemus goramy and Sphaerichthys osphromenoides,
Trichopodus leerii, T. trichopterus, Trichopsis vittata, Channa lucius and C. striata.
The most common fish was Pterygoplichthys pardalis that was present mainly in the
S2. Trichopodus trichopterus and Trichopsis vittata were distributed evenly along the
river, as they were found in each sampling area (Fi 100%). In the Air Hitam River, the
highest H’ value (3. 671) and the highest E value (0.880) were in the upstream, while
the highest C (0.476) was in the middle stream.
Keyword: Freshwater fish composition, Air Hitam River, Pekanbaru, Riau