Wild stocks of endangered mrigal carp, Cirrhinus cirrhosus (Bloch 1795), continues to decline rapidly in the Indo-Ganges river basin. With an objective to evaluate its population status, landmark-based morphometric and meristic variations among three different stocks viz., hatchery (Jessore), baor (Gopalganj) and river (Faridpur) in Bangladesh were studied.

Rahaman, S.M.B.; Rahaman, M.S.; Ghosh, A.K.; Gain, D.; Biswas, S.K.; Sarder, L.; Islam, S.S., and Sayeed, A.B., 2015. A spatial and seasonal pattern of water quality in the Sundarbans river systems of Bangladesh. Journal of Coastal Research, 31(2), 390-397. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Comprehensive field measurements were made in three major river systems (RSs) of the Sundarbans during October 2010 to August 2011 under post-monsoon, dry winter, and monsoon seasons to assess the pollution status. Fifteen experimental sites were set for collection of water samples from discrete layers under different tidal conditions. Salinity, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen (DO) were determined in situ and chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), nitrate, phosphate, and ammonium were measured through laboratory analysis. Mean DO was recorded between 3.93 and 7.37 mg/L with an average 5.44 mg/L. Highest average DO was noticed at Rupsha-Passur RS during post-monsoon, whereas the lowest was in Kholpetua-Arpangashia RS during monsoon. Mean BOD ranges between 0.3 and 4.1 mg O 2 /L, with an average of 2.04 mg O 2 /L, where maximum and minimum concentrations were measured at Kholpetua-Arpangashia RS in monsoon and dry winter respectively. Mean COD was found to vary from 20 to 240 mg O 2 /L, with an average 121.33 mg O 2 /L, exceeding the permissible range of 4-8 mg O 2 /L. Rupsha-Passur RS shows lowest average COD during post-monsoon, whereas Kholpetua-Arpangashia RS indicated highest COD in winter. Measured COD was higher in the dry season than in the wet season because of precipitation that causes dilution in the RSs. The study indicates the existence of organic pollution, though the DO concentration was within the permissible limit. Analyzed water samples showed nitrate, phosphate, and ammonium values in the range of 0.083 6 0.03 to 0.627 6 0.42 mg/L, 0.011 6 0.005 to 0.449 6 0.26 mg/L, and 0.038 6 0.018 to 0.176 6 0.16 mg/L respectively. TN and TP concentrations were not high enough in most cases, as there is a chance of eutrophication due to algal pollution. Study results will help identify factors responsible for affecting the biodiversity of the Sundarbans intertidal mangrove forest.ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS: Sundarbans, BOD, COD, nutrients, mangrove forest, aquatic ecosystem, organic pollution.

The ichthyofauna, their occurrence and conservation status in the Passur River of Khulna district have been studied for a period, from November 2011 to April 2012. A total of 95 finfish species contributing to 14 orders, 45 families and 77 genera were identified. The most dominant fish order was Perciformes with 38 species in 35 genera. Maximum number of species were recorded under the family Gobiidae (14 species) followed by the family Cyprinidae (8 species). Out of 95 species, 14 belonged to the threatened and 3 to the near threatened. The occurrence of majority of the fishes (50%) was recorded as available followed by less available (26%), rare (16%) and very rare (8%). Considering all the findings it is concluded that the Passur River can be considered as a refuge for conservation of threatened freshwater fishes of Bangladesh. Finally, the establishment of fish sanctuaries for both threatened and non-threatened species as well as counter survey is recommended to cross check the fish diversity for their proper management and conservation.

This conference report describes the training activities that took place in the frame of the Integrated in Situ Chemical MApping probe (SCHeMA) summer school organized from the 14th to the 16th of June 2016 in Bilbao (Spain).