Observations on Mare Foghe river’s basin ichtyofauna in Oristano’s Province

Rio Mare Foghe basin assumes importance as a tributary draining continental waters of Cabras’s pond, a humid area of international and EU community importance, strongly determining its chemical features and, consequently, fish product’s organoleptic characteristics, with particular reference to mullet, a great importance species in Oristano’s fishing economy. Census sampling programme was focused on defining the specific abundance for 12 stations, adopting the specific sampling protocol developed for application of Ecological Status Index of fish communities (ISECI). Fish populations, composed of 16 species, is characterized by an extensive presence of 11 allochthonous species to detriment of 5 indigenous ones’ area, therefore mainly composed of wide ecological value taxa, with a prevalence of limnophilous cyprinids. The attempt to apply this ichthyological index has provided information not yet adequate for ecological status’s evaluation of water bodies; the difficulty in coding studied systems is linked to a considerably evolved and consolidated alteration over time, as a consequence of extensive environmental and faunal degradation. Obtained data and considerations by different quality indexes’ comparison, in exclusively preliminary order, is to be considered useful for different ichthyic zones’ identification, being of interest both methodologically and operationally, with regard to different management problems of ichthyological patrimony, representing a further cognitive contribution on freshwater Sardinian ichthyofauna and allowing to formulate a first cognitive picture at river basin’s level.