Freshwater Fish Diversity of Meenachil River, Kottayam, Kerala, South India

The present study was conducted to gain a better understanding of the variety of freshwater fishes found in the Meenachil River. The Meenachil river is one of Kerala's major rivers. The Meenachil River has an abundance of indigenous fishery resources as well as a high level of biodiversity. The current study was carried out to identify the fishes of the five Meenachil river stations. Poonjar (station 1), Erattupetta (station 2), Pala (station 3), Ettumanoor (station 4) and Kottayam (station 5) are the stations. The study was conducted at 15-day intervals for six months, from January 2021 to June 2021. Fish for the study were collected from various locations along the Meenachil River by local fishermen . Fish morphological and morphometric identification was accomplished using standard text. The current study identified 20 species from the Meenachil river, divided into 8 orders and 11 families. The order Cypriniformes dominated with seven, followed by Siluriformes with four species. Two species were identified in the Meenachil river that were endemic to the Western Ghats, and two were endangered. Station 4 Ettumanoor recorded the most fish diversity, while station 5 Kottayam recorded the least. According to this research, the Meenachil River has a diverse fish population.