Freshwater Prawns Diversity (Crustacea: Decapoda) in the River Koshi, Eastern Bihar

Introduction: The river Koshi is one of the major tributary of river Ganga, which originated from the northern slopes of the Himalayas and flows southwards through north Bihar with draining of the Ganga basin near Kursela, in District Katihar, eastern Bihar.

Objectives: Diversity and abundance of freshwater prawns were studied from January 2020 to December 2022 in the Koshi river of district Katihar eastern Bihar, India.

Methodology: The prawn was collected from the bank of Koshi river with the support of fishermen at Kursela in Katihar district, eastern Bihar and preserved in 5% formalin for further study.

Results: Koshi river is also known as Saptakoshi for its seven upper tributaries, that transports a large amount of nutrient and perhaps encourages species prosperity both culturally and individually. The efficiency of water is significant and therefore the freshwater prawns are divers. Prawn is a very important foodstuff in developing countries, due to high protein content and its other nutrition values. In present study we identified & reports commercially and physically important total four species of prawn belonging to Macrobrachium genius in the river Koshi around Kursela, in Katihar district eastern Bihar. They are namely Macrobrachium gangeticum, M. gandaki, M. tiwari and M. lamarrei. The composition of prawn species among which M. lamarrei and M. tiwari were dominant species throughout the year. Whereas the catch of M. gangeticum and M. gandaki were restricted during June to September.

Conclusion: The current investigation important to the presence of commercially important and environmentally sustainable inhabitants available in the river Koshi, Kursela Katihar, eastern Bihar. The suggests to needs appropriate management and conservation strategies to prevent the further loss of populations from this site. The details of data collected are in the flesh in this communication.