SEX RATIO, LENGTH WEIGHT RELATIONSHIP AND CONDITION FACTOR OF FIVE FISH SPECIES FROM EPE LAGOON, SOUTH WESTERN NIGERIA

• Toyosi Fadekemi Igejongbo

  Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology, Federal University of Technology Akure.

  Author

The length weight relationship of five fishes namely Clarias gariepinus, Tilapia guineensis, Sardinella maderensis, Gymnarchus niloticus and Mormyrus rume was carried out from August 2015 to July 2016. Three prominent landing sites with intense fishing activities used for the study were Epe, Ejirin and Agbowa-Ikosi. The specimen were fished with cast net, seine net and set net of various mesh sizes in the lagoon. The length- weight relationship and condition factors and sex ratio of the fish species in Epe lagoon was determined. These fishes displayed allometric growth pattern with b value less than 3. The growth pattern of Clarias gariepinus could be described by the equation LogW=0.41+0.95logTL, Tilapia guineensis: LogW=0.10+1.60logTL, Sardinella maderensis: LogW=0.82+1.24logTL, Gymnarchus niloticus: Log W=0.17+1.46logTL, Mormyrus rume : LogW=0.28+1.66logTL. Analysis of sex ratio for the five species showed the presence of more females than males except for Gymnarchus niloticus where there were more males than female. The pooled sex ratio of 1: 0.9 for Tilapia guineensis, 1 : 1.3 for Clarias gariepinus, 1 : 1.5 for Sardinella maderensis, and 1 : 1.6 for Mormyrus rume. This study provided information about length weight relationships and relative condition factor of specific species in Epe Lagoon. Such data is valuable for establishing a monitoring and management system of these fish species.

1. Toyosi Fadekemi Igejongbo, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology, Federal University of Technology Akure.

   Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology, Federal University of Technology Akure.

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