A preliminary study on ichthyofaunal diversity of Lata Keding, Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia

A preliminary study on the ichthyofaunal diversity of Lata Keding, Jeli in Kelantan, Malaysia was conducted from 19th March to 22nd April 2022. The main objective of this study is to evaluate and document the diversity of fish species (ichthyofauna) in the study area. Fish were collected along Lata Keding at seven sampling points using fishing nets, resulting in a total of 128 individuals belonging to nine species from four families being identified. The families represented were Cyprinidae, Bagridae, Botiidae and Channidae, with the Cyprinidae family comprising the majority of the catch at 91%. This was followed by Bagridae (4%), Botiidae (3%) and Channidae (2%). The nine identified species were Poropuntius normani, Mystacoleucus obtusirostris, Ceratogarra cambodgiensis, Rasbora paviana, Osteochilus waandersii, Barbodes rhombeus, Channa limbata, Syncrossus beauforti and Batasio fluviatilis. This study showed that C. cambodgiensis (Siamese Stone Lapping) was the dominant species at all seven sampling points. Furthermore, sampling point G achieved the highest Simpson index and Shannon Wiener index with 0.863 and 2.023, respectively. This study demonstrated that Lata Keding maintains a diverse population of fish, demonstrating favourable water quality and environmental conditions of the river.