The Edible Fauna of Some Rivers in Abra and Ilocos Sur

Abstract

This study aimed to inventory the edible fauna of Baay, Malanas, and Tineg Rivers in Abra, andBurgos in locos Sur. It also sought to find out which among the said rivers is the most diverse in terms of the edible fauna population. It further classified the organisms in terms of their common name, class, andscientific name. The index of similarity of the organisms found in the four stations was also computed, using the Sorensen's Index of Similarity (ISs). Samples of each species collected were preserved and later brought to the National Museum Zoological Laboratory for proper identification. Nine edible invertebrates and 21 fish species were gathered in Baay River. The nine edible invertebrates were distributed in three classes, namely: one species under class Pelecypoda, three species for class Crustacea, and five species under class Gastropoda. For Tineg River, eight edible invertebrates were gathered and classified as follows: three species under class Pelecypoda, five species under class Gastropoda, and one species under class Crustacea Thirteen fish species were also gathered in said river. For Malanas River, six edible invertebrates were gathered and classified as follows: one species for class Pelecypoda, four under class Gastropoda, and one species under class Crustacea. Fourteen fish species were caught in this river. For Burgos River, eight edible invertebrates were gathered and distributed in three classes namely: one species for class Pelecypoda, four species under class Gastropoda, and three species under class Crustacea. Nineteenfish species were gathered in said river. In terms of the diversity of the edible fauna gathered, Baay River in Abra was the most diverse, as evidenced by the 30 species gathered, followed by Burgos River, with 27 species, Tineg River with 21 species, and Malanas River with 20 species. Data gathered indicated that some are habitat-specific, that is, some species found in one river were not found in other rivers of the study. The similarity indices among the data gathered in the four rivers varied from 66.66%-92.68%. The highest ISs value recorded was 92.68% between Malanas and Tineg Rivers, and the lowest was between Tineg and Burgos Rivers with an ISs of 66.66%.