Environmental Assessment
Volume B-4.3
Mine
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Ambatovy Project
244
January 2006
Fish
Fifteen fish species were collected from the mine LSA during the 1998 and the
2004-2005 surveys and comprised three endemic, eight introduced, and four
native species (Table 4.3 - 2). A fourth endemic, a new species of
Rheoclès
(R. “Ambatovy”
), may also be present in the LSA (pers. comm., P. Loiselle;
reported in Sparks and Stiassny 2005).
Table 4.3-2 Fish Species Recorded at the Mine Local Study Area During the 1998
and 2004-2005 Surveys
Family
Species
Origin Conservation
Status
(a)
IUCN
Status
(b)
Anguillidae
Anguilla mossambica
N
S
nl
Atherinidae
(c)
Atherion sp.
N
S
Cyprinidae
Carassius auratus
I
Gobiidae
Chonophorus aeneofuscus
N
S
nl
Gobiidae
Glossogobius giuris
N
S
nl
Anabantidae
Ctenopoma ansorgii
I
Belontiidae
Macropodus opercularis
I
Channidae
Channa maculata
(e)
I
Cichlidae
Oreochromis niloticus
I
Cichlidae
Tilapia zilii
I
Eleotridae
Ratsirakia legendrei
E
T
DD
Eleotridae
Ratsirakia sp.
E
nl
nl
Bedotiidae
Rheoclès alaotrensis
E
T
VU
Bedotiidae
Rheoclès “ambatovy”
(d)
E
nl
nl
Poeceliidae
Xiphophorus maculatus
I
Poeceliidae
Gambusia holbrooki
I
Notes: E = endemic, I = introduced, N = native; S = secure, T = threatened.
IUCN status: nl = not listed, DD = data deficient, VU = vulnerable.
(a)
Sparks and Stiassny (2003).
(b)
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List (2004).
(c)
From 1998 survey only (Sparks et al. 1998).
(d)
Unconfirmed.
(e)
Misidentified as
Ophicephalus striatus
.
Except for one species (
Atherion
sp.) in the family
Atherinidae
, all other seven
species reported in 1998 were confirmed during the 2004-2005 seasonal surveys.
Generally, species diversity was low and abundances were moderate. The highest
diversities occurred at sites QESF112 and QESF125 with seven species each.
Although no clear pattern emerged between diversity and habitat characteristics,
the high diversity at these two sites may be associated with heterogeneity in
