Survey of the lesser silver water beetle Hydrochara caraboides in Cheshire

This is the report on the Survey of the Lesser Silver Water Beetle Hydrochara caraboides in Cheshire 1997 by the English Nature Research Reports. The three surveyed areas were the ponds at Reaseheath, Mickle Trafford and Brookhouse Farm. The report goes through the method of survey and individual results for each location/pond, aspects of the breeding sites considered favourable to Hydrochara caraboides as depth, vegetation, predators and prey species, surrounding land. It comes with suggestions for further work and appendixes. Appendix A contains tabulated lists of plants and invertebrates found in the various ponds, Appendix B shows grid references and a brief description of ponds at Brookhouse Farm, pond diagrams are plotted in Appendix C.

Fecundity of the snow-trout, Schizothorax plagiostomus (Heckel) from Garhwal Himalaya

Absolute fecundity of Schizothorax plagiostomus varied from 3474 in a fish measuring 345 mm (T.L.) and weighing 315 g to 13916 in a fish measuring 540 mm (T.L.) and weighing 1370 g. The weight of the fish ovaries accounted for 7.02 to 17.78% of the total weight of the fish. The average number of eggs per kg weight of fish and per gram of ovary weight was found to be 10820 and 81 respectively. The fecundity per kg of body weight was found to be 11539. The relationships between fecundity and other parameters (fish length/fish weight/ovary weight/ovary volume/ovary length) and fish length-ovary weight and fish weight-ovary weight were also determined.

Hydrobiological status of a lesser Himalayan river

It is generally observed that a variety of physical and chemical variables have considerable impact on the biological life in a mountain river which include plankton, benthic algae, benthic invertebrate and finally the fishery resources. They are often subjected to extreme hydrological disturbances particularly during rainy seasons when increased volume of water create 'Wash Off' situation for existing fauna and flora. A case study of a lesser Himalayan river - the Gaula, which drains the south-central part of Kumaon region in Uttaranchal is presented here. Since this river does not get snow-melt water, it mainly depends on steady flow of the groundwater round the year. The climate of the area is characterized with long winters, short summer and good amount of rain during monsoon months. The infiltrated groundwater which seeps into the surface soil layers during monsoon seasons is the chief source of discharge of water during winter and summer season