SOME MORPHOMETRIC RECORDS ON Sinanodonta woodiana AND Lamellidens marginalis (MOLLUSCA: BIVALVIA) FROM CENTRAL REACHES OF INDUS RIVER, PAKISTAN

Bivalvia has an extremely important position in our ecosystem as biofilters, bioindicators for environmental quality and most of all source of pearls. They play important role in foodweb. However, the taxonomic work regarding identification of bivalves species is quite scanty due to lack of taxonomic expertise. They play important role in food web. Total 556 specimens were collected from Chashma Barrage, Jinnah Barrage and Dhair Yaruwala (River Indus) for their taxonomic characterization. The identification of the specimens was made on the basis of morphological and morphometric characters using vernier caliper. Identification of the specimens was done by using recent identification keys and diagrammatic description. We found bivalves belonging to 1 family 2 genera and 2 species, Sinanodonta woodiana and Lamellidens marginalis are being reported for the first time from River Indus, Pakistan. Although both species are important for pearl production yet Lamellidens marginalis are edible and of commercial importance. This is a baseline study to get the basic information about the bivalves of River Indus near Chashma Barrage, Jinnah Barrage and Dhair Yaruwala which will be important in various applied fields like pearl culture. Our results reveal the bivalve species in the central reaches of River Indus, Punjab, Pakistan