Table Of ContentPensoft Series Faunistica No. 111 F FISHES OF
I
S
H
E
This work provides a guide and general overview to the fish fauna AFGHANISTAN
S
of Afghanistan, comprising 85 species in 10 families. The book has
an Introduction covering materials and methods, a description
O
of the environment, a history of research, explanations of scien-
F
tific names, fish structures and identification methods, and how
to collect and preserve fishes. Other sections deal with Fisheries, A
Conservation, Identification Keys, Exotic and Translocated Spe-
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cies, Checklists, an analysis of Biodiversity, and a Bibliography.
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The bulk of the text is the Species Accounts each of which has an
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illustration, an explanation of common and scientific names, key
characters, morphology, distribution, biology and importance. A
N
The fauna is a mix of Palaearctic species such as sturgeons and a
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trout and Oriental species such as snakeheads and a spiny eel. The S
majority of Afghan fish, 67 species, are Cypriniformes of which
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49 are Cyprinidae and 17 are Nemacheilidae (with one species in
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Cobitidae). The Siluriformes (Sisoridae, Siluridae, Bagridae) com-
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prise the next largest group with 11 species. Ostariophysi therefore
comprise over 91% of the ichthyofauna. The other 4 families have
1-3 species each. B
r Brian W. Coad
i
a
Many species are poorly known and there have been few collec- n
tions made in this land-locked country. A significant number of W
species records are from the work of John McClelland, published .
C
in 1842. It is expected that a thorough survey would reveal many
o
new species. a
d
ISBN 954642752-7
Sofia–Moscow
9 789546 427526
2014
Fishes of Afghanistan 1
Fishes of Afghanistan
2 Fishes of Afghanistan
Fishes of Afghanistan 3
FISHES OF
AFGHANISTAN
by
Brian W. Coad
Sofia–Moscow
2014
4 Fishes of Afghanistan
FISHES OF AFGHANISTAN
by Brian W. Coad
Canadian Museum of Nature, P.O. Box 3443, Station D, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 6P4
email: [email protected]
www.briancoad.com
On the front cover: Salmo cf. oxianus, natural pond at ca. 11,000 feet on the Sanglich Stream,
easternmost headwater of the Kokcha River, 25 cm female, October 1977, Robin Ade
First published 2014
ISBN 978-954-642-752-6
Pensoft Series Faunistica No 111
ISSN 1312-0174
© PENSOFT Publishers
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the copyright owner.
Pensoft Publishers
12 Prof. Georgi Zlatarski Street, 1700 Sofia, Bulgaria
e-mail: [email protected]
www.pensoft.net
Printed in Bulgaria, November 2014
Fishes of Afghanistan 5
CONTENTS
Introduction 7
Purpose of the Book 7
Materials and Methods 9
Environment 36
History 49
Scientific Names 52
Fish Structure and Identification 54
Collecting and Preserving Fishes 57
Fisheries 61
Conservation 63
Identification Keys 65
Species Accounts 105
Family Acipenseridae (sturgeons) 107
Family Cyprinidae (carps and minnows) 115
Family Cobitidae (spiny loaches) 237
Family Nemacheilidae (river loaches) 241
Family Sisoridae (sisorid catfishes) 277
6 Fishes of Afghanistan
Family Siluridae (sheatfishes) 286
Family Bagridae (bagrid catfishes) 296
Family Salmonidae (trouts and salmons) 303
Family Mastacembelidae (spiny eels) 308
Family Channidae (snakeheads) 311
Exotic and Translocated Species 317
Checklists 321
Biodiversity 333
Acknowledgements 339
Bibliography 341
Colour Plates 385
Introduction 7
INTRODUCTION
Purpose of the Book
This work is meant to provide a guide and general overview to the fish fauna of Afghanistan,
comprising 85 species in 10 families. Kottelat and Whitten (1996), in their assessment of
biodiversity in Asia, note that no country-wide survey of Afghanistan has been done and
virtually all fish samples are chance collections by non-specialists. Knowledge of the fauna
is very fragmentary, many additional species should be expected and, given the topog-
raphy, it is likely that many species would have very restricted ranges. They estimate the
described species represent only 50% of the total number of species present. A significant
number of species records are from the work of John McClelland, published in 1842,
indicative of the state of knowledge on this fauna. A number of taxonomic changes have
taken place since I listed the fauna (Coad, 1981) and these are incorporated here along
with details of biology. In the 30 years since my list was compiled, there have been very
few substantive works on the ichthyofauna of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan lies at the intersection of two zoogeographical realms, the Palaearctic
and the Oriental, and has a relatively diverse fish fauna that reflects this dichotomy.
It is characterised by a variety of habitats from high altitude rivers to lowland lakes to
springs. Rivers drain to endorheic basins in the desert or are the higher reaches of rivers
that ultimately flow into the Indian Ocean. The biology of the fishes found in this small
and land-locked nation reflect this geographical diversity.
The guide is aimed at a mixed audience, including scientists familiar with the
science of ichthyology to whom some introductory sections of this work will be su-
perfluous, and those whose knowledge of fishes is embryonic or who may have limited
access to literature sources.
This Introduction contains several explanatory sections. These sections include the
materials on which this work is based, methods of counting and measuring characters, a
description of the water bodies in Afghanistan, a history of research on the ichthyofauna,
an explanation of scientific names of fishes, details of fish structure so that species descrip-
tions can be readily understood, ways of capturing and preserving fishes and recording
the all-important collection data, and how to identify fishes.
Fisheries are not an important part of the Afghan economy and are briefly reviewed
in this section. Aquaculture has great potential however.
8 Fishes of Afghanistan
The bulk of the text is the Species Accounts which serve to illustrate, identify,
describe and outline the distribution, biology and importance of the species. Families
of fishes are arranged systematically after J. S. Nelson's Fishes of the World (2006) with
genera and species arranged alphabetically within each family.
A section describes briefly the Exotic and Translocated Species in Afghanistan
but no descriptions of the species are given. Most are well-known cultured fishes and
their biology has been widely studied and summarised, e.g., see www.briancoad.com and
FishBase at www.fishbase.org/home.htm.
The Checklists section summarises the ichthyofauna within Afghanistan and indi-
cates species that may ultimately be found there. The first checklist (Table 2) comprises
all those species known from Afghanistan and these have Species Accounts here. The
selection of species to include in this work is based on the following criteria. Some species
were first described from Afghanistan, published works give clear distributional records
for Afghanistan, museum specimens record occurrence, and presence in neighbouring
countries where the water body is shared with Afghanistan and there are no natural bar-
riers to the species presence in Afghanistan (notably the Amu Darya river border in the
north and the Sistan lakes straddling the border with Iran in the west).
Some species are known from rivers that cross the Afghan boundary but which lie
mostly in another country, particularly Pakistan. These species have not been confirmed
for Afghanistan, in some cases from absence of collections within Afghanistan and in
some cases because only headwaters occur in Afghanistan and may not have the diversity
recorded downstream in Pakistan where the river is larger and provides a more diverse
habitat. Such species are not included here although it is expected that some will eventually
prove to be part of the Afghan ichthyofauna. These species are summarised in Table 3.
Muhammad Ramzan Mirza has documented the Pakistani fauna extensively and
his studies should be referred to for further information, e.g., Mirza (2003) gives a recent
checklist of Pakistani fishes; Mirza and Bhatti (1993) and Bhatti and Mirza (1995) detail
fish and fisheries of Pakistan; Mirza (1986, 1989a, 2006) gives an overview of ichthyo-
geography of Pakistan and neighbouring areas; Butt and Mirza (1981) describes the fauna
of the lower Kabul River basin; Mirza et al. (1994, 1995, 1998) and Shahajehan and Jan
(2001) the fauna of the Zhob-Gowmal drainage; Ahmad and Mirza (1964b), Mirza et
al. (1989) and Mirza (2000) the fauna of the Kurram River.
A section on Biodiversity analyses the native ichthyofauna of Afghanistan and
places it in a wider context.
A work such as this is heavily dependent on the good will and assistance of colleagues
and collaborators and these are thanked in the Acknowledgements.
The Bibliography comprises books and papers which formed part of the basis for this
work. These provide a good general basis for the serious student of these fishes. Not all works
listed in the Bibliography are cited in the text as they may contain only a passing reference to
fish or duplicate work published elsewhere. An understanding of the taxonomy and systematics
of Afghan fishes warrants the inclusion of some works which appear remote from that country.
