Konstantinos Fytilis*
Institute of Marine Biological Recourses and Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Attica, Greece
Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Evangelos Palatos
Department of Zoology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Department of Geology, Lab. of Engineering Geology & Hydrogeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
*Corresponding author: fytilis@hcmr.gr
Abstract
The management of water resources and the achievement of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60 / EC's objectives were the key research themes for this study. The study of Ichthyofauna was conducted at nine areas of Enipeas river basin in central Macedonia region of Greece. At the sampling stations, the electrofishing method was applied. The physicochemical parameters at the sampling site were measured with a multiparametric HANNA water quality meter, while water samples were collected and transferred to laboratories of the Biology Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for analysis of nutrients and major ions. Out of nine stations, only one station discovered fish. Because the sampling was only done once, it is suggested that it be repeated at a different time because the research location is located in one of Greece's major catchments. Only three fish species were identified in the entire catchment area, indicating that more detailed studies are needed covering different surrounding areas.
Keywords: Basin, Catchment area, Enipeas river, Fish, Ichthyofauna, Water framework directive
DOI: https://doi.org/x
Received 04.03.2022; Revised 30.04.2022; Accepted 03.05.2022
Cite This Article: Fytilis, K., & Palatos, E. (2022). Study of Ichthyofauna: Fishes in the Enipeas River's Catchment Area, Central Macedonia, Greece. Journal of Sustainability and Environmental Management, 1(2), x-x. doi: xxxxxxxx
1. Introduction
The European Water Framework Directive 2000/60 is
incorporated in Greek legislation by the Law 3399/2003. Enipeas river catchment
area resides in the Aliakmonas River Basin (GR02), which is part of the 9th river
basin district (West Macedonia District). The study area was located on the
eastern slopes of Mount Olympus. It is part of Pieria Regional unit and belongs
to the District of West Macedonia. Generally, Mt Olympus is an area of a
critical importance and scientific interest, due to its complex geology and
geotectonic development. This study presents the ichthyofauna recorded in Enipeas
river basin (Palatos et al., 2013). There are no existing literature on the
fish fauna in the study area, so this was the first attempt to conduct research
in the area.
2. Materials and methods
The total area of the Enipeas river basin is 104.60 km2.
Sampling was carried out in May 2013 at nine stations (Figure 1) (Palatos et
al., 2013). Of the nine sampling stations, five from them had water and four
were dry. Fish were collected only from one station by the method of electric
fishing (electrofishing) (Bohlin et al., 1989; Porreca et al., 2013). This is a
portable device type Samus 752, weighing about 20 kg. It consists of a source
(battery), an ascent and a cathode. It works in fresh water and in some cases
in water with low salinity. The electric field generated affects the fish's
nervous system, immobilizing them and then capturing them. The method should be
applied by a group of two people. The operator, who was responsible for holding
the ascent and the other person who is standing behind him to collect any fish
that had escaped, the descent. The method was applied in the opposite direction
from the river flow. The sampling station where fishes were caught, was St5
with coordinates, latitude: 40° 9'4.80"N and Longitude: 22°30'39.40"E
(Figure 2).
The assembled individuals firstly were placed in plastic
jars containing water and formalin and then refrigerated, in order to be
transported safely to the laboratory without any loss. The species were
identified in the laboratory (Kottelat & Freyhof, 2007). The measurements
of the total (TL) and the fork (FL) length as well as the body weight (w) were
then recorded using an electronic precision balance.
Figure 1:
Sampling stations in Enipeas river basin
Figure 2: Habitat of fishes at Enipeas River in St5 station
3. Results and discussion
A total of 15 fishes were caught in the area.
Specifically, eight fishes of the species Squalius
vardarensis of the family Cyprinidae, five fishes of the species Gambusia holbrooki of the family
Poecilidae and two fishes of the species Gasterosteus
gymnurus of the family Gasterosteidae were found. In terms of their total
biomass it was estimated at 630.48 gr of which 629.39 gr come from the species
Squalius vardarensis, 1.05 gr from the species Gambusia holbrooki and 0.04 g
from the species Gasterosteus gymnurus (Table 1).
The physicochemical parameters at the sampling site were
measured with a multiparametric HANNA water quality meter, while water samples
were collected and transferred to laboratories of the Biology Department of the
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for analysis of nutrients and major ions.
The physicochemical, chemical and habitats of the sampling site are presented
in Table 2. Overall, the physicochemical quality of the sampling site is poor,
as classified according to the physicochemical quality index (Skoulikidis et
al., 2006).
The Figures 3 and 4 show the fish fauna protocol which was completed at the sampling station and mentions some habitat data such as the width of the station, the depth, the length, etc.
Table 1: Length and weight of fishes collected at the station St5
|
Species |
Total length (cm) |
Fork length (cm) |
Weight (gr) |
||||
|
Max |
Min |
Max |
Min |
Max |
Min |
||
|
Squalius vardarensis |
19,60 |
17,40 |
18,80 |
16,70 |
100,90 |
61,57 |
|
|
Gambusia holbrooki |
2,70 |
2,30 |
2,60 |
2,20 |
0,32 |
0,15 |
|
|
Gasterosteus gymnurus |
1,20 |
1,10 |
1,10 |
1,00 |
0,02 |
0,02 |
|
Table 2: Physicochemical and chemical parameters and habitat characteristics of the three fishes species collection site in Enipeas River (St5)
|
Parameters
(Units) |
Grade |
|
pH |
7.10 |
|
Water Temperature (°C) |
18.6 |
|
Conductivity (μS/cm) |
586 |
|
TSS (mg/l) |
5 |
|
D.O. (mg/l) |
8.9 |
|
BOD (mg/l) |
2.3 |
|
N-NO2 (mg/l) |
0,0142 |
|
N-NO3 (mg/l) |
1,0914 |
|
N-NH4 (mg/l) |
0,0953 |
|
TN (mg/l) |
0,3249 |
|
P-PO4 (mg/l) |
0,0054 |
|
TP (mg/l) |
0,001762 |
|
Cobbles and Pebbles (16 –256 mm) (%) |
45 |
|
Gravel and sand (2-64 mm) (%) |
40 |
|
Rock continuous (%) |
10 |
|
Silt &Clay (<0.0625mm) (%) |
5 |
|
Discharge (m3/s) |
0.023 |
|
Indice HMS |
25 |
|
Indice IHF |
40 |
|
Indice QBR |
10 |
|
Physicochemical Quality |
Poor |
Figure 3: Protocols of Ichthyofauna
4. Conclusion
The Enipeas
river springs are situated in the largest mountain of Greece, Mount Olympus. Further study should be done in this area and in
different seasons, as it was pointed out that several stations did not have
water. The water quality of the river Enipeas is vital as it supplies with
water Litochoro city. At the same time, the relatively small literature for
this area leaves room for further development and additional study.
Acknowledgements
This
contribution represents incidental observations and recordings made during the
National Water Framework Directive monitoring project within the
interdepartmental program of postgraduate studies of the departments of
Biology, Geology and Civil Engineering AUTH by titled: Ecological quality and water
management at the river basin. The authors would like to thanks Mr. Anastasio
Nikolaidi and Ms. Christina Zikidou for their contribution to sampling. The
data used for this publication are open data. Also, authors are thankful to the
anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.
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