Study of the Biological Quality of the Water in the Manantali Dam Reservoir: Analysis of the Fish Fauna and Plankton Communities

The aim of this study of the Manantali dam reservoir is to investigate the biological quality of the water through inventories and analysis of the ichthyofauna and planktonic communities (zooplankton and phytoplankton). Inventories of ichthyofauna and plankton communities were carried out quarterly from 2003 to 2022. The fish populations studied on the basis of bioindicators (species richness, diversity index, equitability index, diversification index) identified 29 species belonging to 10 families. The Cichlidae family is the most represented, while the Schilbeidae and Tetraodontioae families are less represented in terms of number of species. The species Hydrocynus forskalii and Brycinus nurse with relative abundances of 40.12% and 21.4% respectively, both from the family Alestidae, are the most abundant. The species H. forskalii has a frequency of occurrence of 100%. The specific diversity index of 2.9 and the equitability index of 0.6 show an average diversity of fish species. The diversification index of 2.9 indicates a theoretical number of habitats of 2 to 3. The planktonic community is made up of zooplankton and phytoplankton. The inventory of zooplankton shows the presence of 28 zooplankton species belonging to 9 families of the three zooplankton groups Rotifera, Cladocera and Copepoda. Analysis of the frequencies of occurrence of the various taxa showed that the characteristic species of Lake Manantali are the omnipresent rotifers Keratella cochlearis, Keratella quadrata and Trichocerca chattoni. For phytoplankton, the inventories carried out show the presence of 65 species belonging to 5 families (Chlorophycees, Diatomees, Dinophycees, Chrysophycees and Cyanophycees). An analysis of the frequency of occurrence of the various taxa shows that the characteristic species of Lake Manantali are Chlorophycees, with 7 species: Desmidium baileyi, Micrasterias alata, Sphaerocystis schroeteri, Spondylosium sp., Staurastrum heimii, Staurastrum subanchora, Staurodesmus wandae; Diatoms, with one species: Navicula sp. and Cyanophycees, with one species: Microcystis aeruginosa.