Study of Freshwater Prawn Diversity from Different Rivers of Jammu, India

Diversity of freshwater prawns and biological indices were studied from June, 2019 to May, 2020 in five rivers of Jammu region of J&K. In total, five species of prawns belonging to Macrobrachium and Caridina genus were recorded. Out of the five species, Macrobrachium dayanum was dominant species present in all the surveyed water bodies whereas M. lamarrei was only in two water bodies. The different diversity indices showed significant differences. The highest and lowest values of Shanon-Weiner index, Margalef richness index and Pielou eveness index (%) were 1.39 (Chadwal stream) and 0.67 (Sai stream), 0.79 (Chadwal stream) and 0.30 (Sai stream), 0.97 (Sai stream) and 0.80 (Chadwal stream). Sai stream showed least diversity and abundance of species compared to other study sites, which is also revealed by the results of cluster analysis that showed this site to be significantly different indicating it to be the least suitable habitat.