Fish species composition in the Red river and its tributaries in the Yen Bai province, Vietnam

JOURNAL OF SCIENCE OF HNUE DOI: 10.18173/2354-1059.2015-00084 Chemical and Biological Sci. 2015, Vol. 60, No. 9, pp. 97-103 This paper is available online at Received May 20, 2015. Accepted September 19, 2015. Contact Nguyen Huu Duc, e-mail address: duc.nguyen1942@gmail.com 97 FISH SPECIES COMPOSITION IN THE RED RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES IN THE YEN BAI PROVINCE, VIETNAM Nguyen Huu Duc1, Tran Duc Hau1 and Ha Thi Thanh Hai2 1 Faculty of Biology, Hanoi National University of Education 2 Training and Education Department of Cao Bang Province Abstract. The fish community of the Red River and its four tributaries (Ngoi Hit, Ngoi Thia, Ngoi Lao and an unnamed Ngoi) was elucidated from October 2009 to August 2010. During the period of study, 110 species belonging to 69 genera, 20 families and 7 orders were identified. Previous works have identified 120 species, 74 genera, 20 families and 7 orders in the research area. Sixty-six species were newly recorded ichthy- fauna. Of the 7 orders, Perciformes was the most diverse in number of families, and Cypriniformes was dominant in number of species. The number of species collected varied between streams and administrative divisions. The present study found seven rare species listed in Vietnam‟s Red Data Book, and two marine species in the study area. Keywords: Species diversity of fish, distribution, rare species, Red River, Yen Bai, Vietnam. 1. Introduction The Red River within Yen Bai Province is approximately 110 km in length, with four large tributaries, the Ngoi Hit, the Ngoi Thia, the Ngoi Lao and an unnamed Ngoi. Of these, the Ngoi Thia is the longest at about 70 km. Hitherto, only two surveys were done in this research area. In 1960, Mai Dinh Yen investigated fish species composition and recorded 14 species in the Ngoi Thia [1] and in 2007 Tran Duc Hau and Ha Thi Thanh Hai [2] reported finding 48 species in the Ngoi Thia within Van Chan District. Knowledge of species composition of the different tributaries of the Red River is very necessary to enhance management of the fisheries resource. This study presents species composition of the Red River in the research area based on collections made in 2009 and 2010 along with information cited from the above two works. 2. Content 2.1. Materials and methods Five surveys were conducted between October 2009 and August 2010 at 13 locations along the Red River and its branches in Yen Bai Province: Phong Du, Yen Phu and Mau A Town in Van Yen District; Co Phuc, Minh Quan and Tran Yen Town in Tran Yen District; An Luong, Son Thinh and Cat Thinh in Van Chan District; Nghia Phuc and Cau Thia in the Nguyen Huu Duc, Tran Duc Hau and Ha Thi Thanh Hai 98 town of Nghia Lo; Tram Tau in Tram Tau District and Yen Ninh in the city of Yen Bai City (Figure 1). A total of 902 fish specimens were taken using gill nets, cast nets, traps and handline. In addition, specimens caught by local people and found in local marketplaces were also used for the study. Specimens were initially fixed in a 8 - 10% formalin solution in the field, and subsequently preserved in 4 - 5% formalin in the laboratory. All specimens were deposited in the Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Hanoi National University of Education. Figure 1. Map of sampling sites along the Red River and its tributaries in Yen Bai Province Counting and measurements methods followed Pravdin (1963) [3]. When possible, fish were identified using available keys in the following references: Nguyen Van Hao & Ngo Si Van (2001) [4], Nguyen Van Hao (2005a, 2005b) [5, 6], Mai Dinh Yen (1978) [1], Kottelat Maurice (2001a, 2001b) [7, 8], Chen Y. Y. et al. (1998) [9] and Yue P. et al. (2000) [10]. The list of fish was ordered in accordance with Eschmeyer W. N. (1998) [11]. 2.2. Results and discussion 2.1.1. Species composition The fish fauna encountered in the research area are presented in Table 1. A total of 902 specimens were collected consisting of 110 species in 69 genera, 20 families and 7 orders. Ten species that were coll cted by Mai [1] and Tran & Ha [2] in previous surveys were absent in the present study (Table 1) while 66 species other species were found. In total, the list of fish of the Red River basin in Yen Bai Province consists of 120 species of 74 genera, 20 families and 7 orders (Table 1). Fish species composition in the Red River and its tributaries in the Yen Bai Province, Vietnam 99 Table 1. List of fish collected in the Red River and its tributaries # Scientific name # Scientific name I Clupeiformes 3 Cobitidae 1 Clupeidae Cobitinae 1 Clupanodon thrissa (Linnaeus, 1758)EN■ 67 Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Cantor, 1842) II Cypriniformes 68 M. mizolepis Gunther, 1888 2 Cyprinidae 4 Balitoridae Danioninae Nemacheilinae 2 Zacco platypus (Tem. & Schlegel,1846) 69 Traccatichthys pulcher (Nichols & Pope, 1927) 3 Opsariichthys bidens Gunther, 1873 70 Schistura fasciolata (Nichols & Pope, 1927) Leuciscinae 71 Sh. chapaensis (Rendahl, 1944) 4 Mylopharyngodon piceus (Richardson, 1846) 72 Sh. hingi (Herre, 1934) 5 Ctenopharyngodon idellus (Valenciennes, 1844) 73 Sh. caudofurca (Mai, 1978) 6 Squaliobarbus curriculus (Richardson, 1846) Balitorinae 7 Ochetobius elongatus (Kner, 1867)VU # 74 Vanmanenia tetraloba (Mai, 1978) 8 Elopichthys bambusa (Rich., 1845) VU# 75 V. ventrosquamata (Mai, 1978)* Cultrinae 76 Beaufortia leveretti (Nichols & Pope, 1927) 9 Pseudolaubuca sinensis Bleeker, 1846 77 Pseudogastromyzon daon (Mai, 1978) 10 Toxabramis houdemeri Pellegrin, 1932 78 Balitora brucei Gray, 1830 11 T. hotayensis Nguyen, 2001 III Siluriformes 12 Hemiculter songhongensis Nguyen V.H & Nguyen V.N., 2001 5 Bagridae 13 H. leucisculus (Basilewsky, 1855) 79 Pelteobagrus fulvidraco (Richardson, 1846) 14 Chanodichthys erythropterus (Basilewsky, 1855) 80 P. vachellii (Richardson, 1846) 15 Pseudohemiculter hainanensis (Boulenger, 1900) 81 Pseudobagrus virgatus (Oshima, 1926) 16 Erythroculter recurvirostris (Sauvage, 1884) 82 Leiocassis argentivittatus (Regan, 1905) 17 Xenocypris argentea Gunther, 1868 83 Hemibagrus vietnamicus Mai, 1978 18 X. davidi Bleeker, 1871 84 H. pluriradiatus (Vaillant, 1892) Hypophthalmichthyinae 85 H. chiemhoaensis Nguyen, 2005 19 Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (Richardson, 1845) 86 H. songdaensis Nguyen, 2005 20 H. harmandi Sauvage, 1884 87 H. centralus Mai, 1978 Gobioninae 88 H. dongbacensis Nguyen, 2005 21 Hemibarbus medius Yue, 1995 6 Siluridae 22 H. labeo (Pallas, 1776) # 89 Silurus asotus Linnaeus, 1758 23 Saurogobio dabryi Bleeker, 1871 90 Pterocryptis cochinchinensis (Valenciennes, 1840) * 24 S. immaculatus Koller, 1927 7 Sisoridae Nguyen Huu Duc, Tran Duc Hau and Ha Thi Thanh Hai 100 25 Squalidus argentatus (Sauvage & Dabry de Thiersant, 1874) 91 Bagarius rutilus Ng & Kottelat, 2000 VU 26 Sarcocheilichthys nigripinnis (Gunther, 1873) 92 Glyptothorax pallozonus (Lin, 1934) 27 S. kiangsiensis Nichols, 1930 93 G. macromaculatus Li, 1984 28 Microphysogobio kachekensis (Oshima, 1926) 94 G. honghensis Li, 1984 29 M. labeoides (Nichols & Pope, 1927) 95 Pseudecheneis sinpelvicus Roberts, 1998 Gobiobotinae 96 P. paviei Vaillant,1892 30 Gobiobotia kolleri Bănărescu & Nalbant, 1966 8 Clariidae 31 G. meridionalis Chen & Cao, 1977 97 Clarias fuscus (Lacépède, 1803) Acheilognathinae 98 C. gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) 32 Rhodeus ocellatus ocellatus (Kner, 1866) IV Cyprinodontiformes 33 R. spinalis Oshima, 1926 9 Poecilidae 34 Acheilognathus tonkinensis (Vaillant, 1892) 99 Gambusia affinis (Baird & Girard, 1853) Barbinae V Beloniformes 35 Spinibarbus denticulatus (Oshima, 1926) 10 Hemiramphidae 36 S. hollandi Oshima, 1919 100 Rhynchorhamphus georgii (Valenciennes, 1847)■ 37 S. vittatus Nguyen & Nguyen, 1997 VI Synbranchiformes 38 Puntius semifasciolatus (Gunther, 1868) 11 Synbranchidae 39 Neolissochilus benasi (Pellegrin & Chevey, 1936) 101 Monopterus albus (Zuiew, 1793) 40 Acrossocheilus krempfi (Pellegrin & Chevey, 1934) 12 Mastacembelidae 41 A. longibarbus (Nguyen & Doan, 1969) 102 Mastacembelus armatus (Lacépède, 1800) 42 A. laocaiensis Nguyen & Doan, 1969 103 Macrognathus aculeatus (Bloch, 1786) 43 A. baolacensis Nguyen, 2001 * VII Perciformes 44 A. iridescens (Nichols & Pope, 1927) 13 Percichthyidae 45 Varicorhinus (Scaphesthes) microstomus Nguyen & Doan, 1969 104 Siniperca scherzeri Steindachner, 1892 46 V. (Scap.) erythrogenys Nguyen & Doan, 1969 * 105 Coreoperca whiteheadi Boulenger, 1900 47 V. (Onychostoma gerlachi) (Peters, 1881) 14 Cichlidae 48 V. (O.) laticeps Gunther, 1896 106 Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) 49 V. (O.) lepturum (Boulenger, 1900) 107 O. aureus (Steindachner, 1864) 50 Scaphiodonichthys macracanthus (Pellegrin & Chevey, 1936) 15 Odontobutidae 51 S. brevicephalus (Nguyen & Doan, 1969) 108 Sineleotris chalmersi (Nichols & Pope, 1927) 52 Amblyrhynchichthys truncatus (Bleeker, 1850) 119 Neodontobutis tonkinensis (Mai, 1978) Labeoninae 110 N. macropectoralis Mai, 1978 Fish species composition in the Red River and its tributaries in the Yen Bai Province, Vietnam 101 ■: Marine fishes; EN. Endangered level in the Vietnam Red Data Book (2007) [6]; VU. Vulnerable; *: Species reported only in Tran & Ha (2007); #. Species only in Mai (1960). 2.1.2. Diversity Of the 7 orders, Perciformes was the most diverse in the present study (8 families, accounting for 40%) with Siluriformes second (4 families, accounting for 20%) followed by Cypriniformes (3 families, accounting for 15%) and Synbranchiformes (2 families, accounting for 10%), and Clupeiformes, Beloniformes and Cyprinodontiformes (1 family, accounting for 5%). Cypriniformes was the most common order in terms of species number (97 species, accounting for 80.83%) (Table 1). Of the 20 families found, Cyprinidae was the most dominant, consisting of 41 genera (constituting of 55.41%), followed by Balitoridae (6 genera, constituting 8.10%), Bagridae (4 genera, constituting 5.41%) and Sisori ae (3 genera, constituting 4.05%). There are 2 genera (constituting 2.70%) in the following families: Mastacembelidae, Percichthyidae, Odontobutidae, Siluridae and Osphronemidae. The rest of the families consisted of 1 genus. Of the 74 genera, 32 were plural species and 42 were singular species. Hemibagrus was the most diverse genus with 6 species accounting for 8.11%, followed by Acrossocheilus and Varicorhinus (5 species, accounting for 6.75%) and Schistura (4 species, accounting for 5.40%). The number of genera had 3 and 2 species was 4 and 21, respectively. Regarding distribution of fish species, it can be seen in Table 2 that Van Yen ranked first among the six places with a total of 75 species while only 28 species were collected at Tram Tau.This differentiation could be due to the different number of sampling stations used.= In Tram Tau and Yen Bai City, a different number of species were found (28 and 35) (Table 2) even though there was one sampling site in each (Figure 1). This is probably due to the fact that the latter station was located on the main stem of the river. 53 Bangana tonkinensis (Pellegrin & Chevey, 1934)VU 16 Eleotridae 54 B. lemassoni (Pell. & Chev., 1936) VU# 111 Eleotris melanosoma Bleeker, 1853 55 B. sp. 112 E. oxycephala Temminck & Schlegel, 1845 56 Similabeo notabilis Peters, 1880 17 Gobiidae 57 Cirrhina molitorella (Valenciennes, 1844) 113 Rhinogobius leavelli (Herre, 1935) 58 Osteochilus salsburyi Nichols & Pope, 1927 18 Anabantidae 59 Garra imberba Garman, 1912 114 Anabas testudineus (Bloch, 1792) 60 G. bourreti (Pellegrin, 1928) 19 Osphronemidae 61 Placocheilus cyclostomatus (Mai, 1978) 115 Macropodus opercularis (Linnaeus, 1788) 62 Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822) * 116 Macropodus sp. Cyprininae 117 Trichopodus trichopterus (Pallas, 1770) 63 Carassius auratus auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) 20 Channidae 64 Carassioides acuminatus (Richardson, 1864) 118 Channa orientalis Bloch & Schneider, 1801 65 Cyprinus carpio carpio (Linnaeus, 1758) 119 Ch. striata (Bloch, 1793) 66 C. exophthalmus Mai, 1978 120 Ch. maculata (Lacépède, 1801)EN # Nguyen Huu Duc, Tran Duc Hau and Ha Thi Thanh Hai 102 Table 2. Species diversity at locations and streams of the Red River in Yen Bai Province District or City Yen Bai City Van Yen Tran Yen Van Chan Nghia Lo Tram Tau No. of species 35 75 56 67 30 28 Tributaries or main stream Ngoi Hit Ngoi Thia Unamed Ngoi Ngoi Lao Main stem river No. of species 21 80 19 27 68 Table 2 also describes the species diversity of the five streams in the Red River basin. Species diversity was greatest in the Ngoi Thia, with 80 species, followed by the main stem river with 68 species. In the other streams, 19 to 27 species were found. Interestingly, a greater number of species was found in the Ngoi Thia tributary than in the main stream (80 vs. 68) because there were more sampling stations in the former than the latter (6 vs. 4). It is important to note that fish species composition in the main stream and its tributaries differed. There were 10 species of hillstream loaches (Balitoridae family) in the Ngoi Thia while only one species (Balitora brucei) was collected in the main stream. However, the number of catfish species (Siluriformes) in the main stream was twice that of the Ngoi Thia stream. Species of Cyprinids were found to be widely distributed in the research area. For example, 40 and 36 species of the Cyprinidae family were found in the Ngoi Thia and the main stream, respectively. In addition, in two places along the main stream, next to forks between the tributaries and main stream (Mau A and Yen Ninh), 45 and 35 species were found. 2.1.3. Conservation aspects Of the 120 fish species collected in the area, seven were listed in Vietnam‟s Red Data Book (2007) [12] with 2 in the EN category, dotted gizzard shad (Clupanodon thrissa) and snake head (Channa maculata), and 5 in the VU category, Bangana tonkinensis, B. lemassoni, Ochetobius elongatus (yellowcheek), Elopichthys bambusa and Bagarius rutilus. Of the 7 rare species, four had not been collected since 1960 (Table 1). In spite of the great distance from the coastal waters, two marine fish species, the dotted gizzard shad (Clupanodon t rissa) and the long-billed halfbeak (Rhynchorhamphus georgii) were found in the research area. 3. Conclusion This study showed that at the time of the investigation, 120 species of 74 genera, 20 families and 7 orders could be found in the Red River within Yen Bai Province. It also revealed that Perciformes and Cypriniformes were the dominant orders in the research area with number of families and species being 8 and 97, respectively. 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