Articles

Kundal Dam is small irrigation purpose dam, located in district Swabi that control flood and supply water to irrigate the fertile land of Swabi to full fill the scarcity of water. A field survey was conducted from May to August 2024 to investigate ichthyo fauna of Kundal Dam district Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. In this study, a total of eight species were documented including Channa punctata, Channa gachua, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Labeo rohita, Carassius auratus, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Barilius Vagra and Mastacembelus armatus representing the three families Channidae, Cyprindae and Mastacembelidae respectively. We documented the ichthyo fauna of Kundal Dam for first time and providing a baseline for future research to understand the fish diversity of this region. Fish fauna suffered in various threats including climate change, habitat destruction, pollution, species invasiveness, overfishing and diseases. These threats can decline the fish population, reduce biodiversity and even cause the extinction, therefor this study focused on the management and conservation of fish fauna of this area.