Ichthyological Inventory of the Kamikingi River: Identification and Classification of Predominant Species

Abstract

Today, fish is one of the world's most precious and widely consumed natural resources, in both developed and developing countries. In addition, for as long as man has existed on Earth, food has been one of his main preoccupations. Thanks to its rich protein content, fish is becoming an increasingly important part of our diet. That's why, this study aims to identify the species of fish living in the Kamikingi River and to classify them into different families. To achieve this, a documentation-based approach via fieldwork was used for data collection and interpretation. These methods were supported by various techniques such as the capture technique (using tools such as Traps, Hooks, and Nets), the specimen preservation technique (using formalin as an anti-oxidant), and the specimen identification technique (using fish species identification keys such as those of Lé vê que, Paugy, and Poll) to compare fish species present in the Kamikingi River). To facilitate the presentation and/or interpretation of these field data, a number of indices were calculated. These are Jaccard's similarity index, relative abundance, Shannonweaver diversity index (H), equitability index and Dominance index. As a result, 495 specimens were identified in the Kamikingi River. Represented successively by two families: Cyprinidae and Claridae; and two genera: Barbus and Clarias. Which can be divided into 6 species: Barbus stigmatopygus, Clarias gariepinus, Barbus gourmansis, Barbus chlorotaenia, Barbus thys and Barbus sublineatus. Furthermore, the classification proposed by Jaccard's similarity index classifies these species into three groups, with a certain similarity between these groups in terms of the number of species per site. The first is the group formed by Barbus sublineatus and Barbus thys, the second by Clarias gariepinus, Barbus gourmansis and Barbus stigmatopygus, and the third by Barbus chlorotaenia. By the way, in this study, we highlight and have made available to the Bubolese population a number of fish species that were long unknown. These species are edible and pose no threat to human life. In view of the very small size and number of these species in the Kamikingi River, we reserve the right to encourage the fishing of these fish in this river for conservation reasons.