Diversity and abundance of fishes in aveya river, blue nile basin, ethiopia

In the present study we evaluate the diversity and abundance of fishes in Aveya River during the wet season (September-October 2011) and dry season (March-April 2012). Fishes were collected from seven sampling sites by using multi-mesh gillnets of stretched mesh sizes 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 cm. Eight hundred six fish specimens, all belonging to the Cyprinidae, were collected. All the studied rivers were dominated by cyprinids. The sites harbors large flock of Varicorhinus beso population which is IUCN red list category. Gumara site had the highest diversity (average H' = 3.47) in both seasons. All the fish species showed significant differences in abundance between seasons with overall catch composition of 55.5%, 17.2%, 16.0% and 11.3% for V. beso, Labeobarbus nedgia, L. intermedius and L. forskalii, respectively. Varicorhinus beso, L. nedgia and L. intermedius were the most important species in both seasons and in most of the sampling sites. Our results showed that the studied habitats are in danger of being destroyed and therefore catchment rehabilitation should be considered and the massive seasonal fishing by the local communities should be reduced.