| Abstrakt: |
In the issue of aquatic management and assessment of freshwater fish species, it is important to examine habitat preference and habitat suitability indices, because the presence of many species in an aquatic ecosystem indicates the suitable conditions of their habitat. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate and preference habitat of Oxynoemacheilus zarzianus in the Sirvan River. Sampling was done from different parts of the river (regarding depth, width and etc.) in 7 stations each with 3 repetitions and a total of 21 stations. Sampling was performed along 30 m at each station against the direction of the river velocity, from the downstream of the river to the upstream. Ten environmental factors including pH, temperature, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, Altitude, depth, river width, velocity, and bed slope were measured. The results showed that the highest and lowest total SI values for studied species were obtained for the altitude (0.237) and river width (0.1), respectively. The results showed that the highest abundance and presence of O. zarzianus were in places with gravel beds, which probably preferred these places to avoid predators. The value of the total suitability index also showed that this river is not a suitable habitat for Zarzian loach. Therefore, it is necessary to consider special management measures for this species, whose presence has been reported in this river recently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
