Diversity of Fishes in a Freshwater Reservoir of Chhattisgarh, India

Kumhari reservoir is one of the average productive small reservoir in Chhattisgarh. It is located near village Tilda and 22 kms from the block Kharora, in Raipur district. The small reservoir, Kumhari is situated between 21° 24' - 21° 96' N latitude and 81° 36' - 81° 52' E longitude. Agricultural lands surround this reservoir. The full surface level (FSL) is 986.58 ha and the Dead storage level (DSL) is 92.07 ha with an average water spread area, 539.23 ha. The depth is 12 m. However, as it has good water storage capacity, the reservoir is also used for stocking of cultivable fishes. Several native fishes also thrive in this reservoir along with stocked composite carp. The diversity of fish may be grouped in two categories like stocked Indian Major Carps and other native fishes. The fishes represent families like Cyprinidae, Channidae, Cichlidae, Siluridae, Percidae, Gobiidae, etc. The detailed taxonomic account of these fishes is documented in this paper.