Annotated Check List of Ichthyofaunal Diversity in the Freshwater Tidal Stretch Along the Gosthani Estuary, Bheemunipatnam, East Coast of India

The present study found 60 fish species belonging to 20 orders, 38 families, and 54 genera in the Gosthani estuary between May 2023 and April 2024. The fishes were brought to the lab and placed in glass jars before being preserved in a 9-10% formalin solution. The fish were identified at the species level using keys specific to the Indian subcontinent fish. Perciformes accounted for 35% of highest was observed in the total population. The recorded piscine species was met by the following orders: Clupeiformes (10%), Siluriformes (83.3%), Beloniformes, Tetraodontiformes, and Cypriniformes (each with 5.00%). Anguilliformes, Carangiformes, Mugiliformes, Cichiliformes, and Scombriformes each had 3.33%, while Anabantiformes, Moroniformes, Acanthuriformes, Elopiformes, Gonorynchiformes, Synbranchiformes, Gobiiformes, Istiophoriformes, and Spariformes each had 1.66%. According to the IUCN (2024) threatened taxa in the current investigation, 65.00% of the 60 species are least concerned (LC), followed by 23.33% that are not evaluated (NE), 5.00% that are data deficient (DD), and 3.33% that are near threatened (NT) or vulnerable (VU).In the current study, ichthyofaunal diversity reported to habitation environment was observed in marine and brackish water fish species (76.66%), while brackish water and freshwater were inhabited (55.00%) in the Gosthani estuary.