Environmental Influence on the Fish and Shellfish Biodiversity of Veli Lake in the Southwest Coast of India

It is necessary to access the effects of the aquatic environment on species dominance, diversity and ecosystem functions as a measure to sustain aquatic resources at an optimum level. The present paper elucidates the status of fish and shellfish fauna and the correlation of the environmental factors of Veli Lake. The lake is situated 8 km north west of Trivandrum City at 8o 28’ N latitude and 76o 57’ E longitude. The system widens from the bar mouth to the eastern part and is 2 km long and 0.3 km broad. The biodiversity survey of fish and shellfishes of this lake was made for a period of one year(2009-2010).The available fishes of the concerned months were correlated with the physico-chemical parameters, nutrients of the water samples, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous and heavy metals such as copper, lead, manganese, nickel and zinc of the sediments. A total of 31 species were reported during the whole year. All the fish and shellfishes showed seasonal influence with more fresh water species in monsoon months. The pre monsoon reported less percentage and non availability of most of the fish species in catches. The correlation analysis proved that, there is a relationship between environmental parameters and fish species in those ecosystems.