Freshwater fish fauna of the rivers Mula and Mutha, Pune, Maharashtra

Abstract

There are, at present, at least 62 species of fish in the Mula and Mutha Rivers flowing through Pune. Sewage and industrial pollution of river waters, besides prevalence of exotic fish, appear to be the reasons for the depletion of fish species. About 30% (18 out of 61) of the fish species, that were reported earlier, were not found during this survey. Nineteen species that were not known in 1940s were found in this survey.