Icthyofauna Diversity and its Abundance in East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh

East Godavari district occupies a very important place in the fisheries map of Andhra Pradesh, which endowed with rich fishery resources of marine, inland and brackish water. The Ichthyofauna of East Godavari district was collected to record the biodiversity of fish fauna in the district. It is recorded that the fish fauna of this district comprises of 9 Orders, 59 Genera and 146 Species. The collection revealed that majority of the fish belong to order Cyprinoformes which predominates with 83 species followed by Siluriniformes with 30 species and Perciformes with 12 species. The Order Cypriniformes has most commercial importance fish such as Catla, Rohu, Mrigal and the Common Carp. The Order Channiformes represents all murrels Channa striatus, Channa marulius, Channa gachua and Channa punctatus which are of great commercial value. Hilsa hilsa belongs to the Order Cluperformes is also recorded here, which is an anadromous migratory fish visiting River Godavari during early monsoon months. There is an immediate need to take measures to conserve this fish.