A preliminary study on the biodiversity of fish in the Suhui River, Muara Ancalong, East Kutai, Indonesia

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to screen and identify the potency of the fish that are found in the Suhui River as a basis for aquaculture and conservation programs. Twenty-nine fish species were caught from three observatory stations on the Suhui River, Muara Ancalong Municipality, East Kutai in June–July 2015. Results of the current study found that the fish fauna of the Suhui River are clearly dominated by Osteochilus spilopleura, which was abundant in all three observatory stations. Channa striata is a candidate species for aquaculture in the Suhui River, based on personal communications with local fishermen. Though several potential aquaculture fish species were observed in this preliminarystudy, further work on potential aquaculture and conservation needs to be done. Such a study could be capable of producing results that would help to reduce malnutrition and poverty in rural areas, and at the same time, help us to widen our scientific knowledge of renewable fisheries resources in the rivers of Suhui Muara, Ancalong Kutai Timur, Indonesia