Research Article | OPEN ACCESS
An Estimation of the Size Composition and Condition Factor of Ophiocara Porocephala from Amassoma Flood Plains, Niger Delta, Nigeria
E.N. Ogamba and J.F.N. Abowei
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Nigeria
Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology 2013 3:366-372
Received: July 07, 2012 | Accepted: August 28, 2012 | Published: June 15, 2013
Abstract
An estimation of the size composition and condition factor of Ophiocara porocephala from Amassoma flood plains, Niger Delta, Nigeria was carried out for a period of six months (April-June 2010 and November, 2011- January, 2012) to assess aspects of the fishery status. The flood plain of Amassoma is one of the low lands in Niger Delta providing nursery and breeding grounds for variety of both finfish and shell fish species. Fish plays on important role in the development of a nation. Apart from being a cheap source of highly nutritive protein, it also contains other essential nutrients required by the body. Therefore the study of condition factor and size composition of Ophiocara porocephala from Amassoma flood plains will provide information on the amount of stock available for the fishery, evaluation of production, information for stock sizes, an important information for the evaluation of mortalities and status of the fish population, estimating the average weight at a given length group and an index of growth and feeding intensity. Length measurement values ranged from 8.2-15.3 cm; while width, weight and condition factor measurement values ranged from 1.2-2.5 cm, 3.98 g–40.35 g and 0.29-1.78. The highest length frequency (26) was estimated for values ranging from 11.5-12.5 with class mark 12.0 mm. The lowest length frequency (1) was estimated for length range 14.8-15.8 mm with class mark 15.3 mm. The highest width frequency (27) was estimated for values ranging 1.8-1.9 mm with class mark 1.85 mm. The lowest width frequency (2) was estimated for values ranging from 2.2-2.4 and 2.5 -2.6 mm with class marks 2.45 and 2.65 mm, respectively. The highest weight frequency (31) was estimated for values ranging from 10.0-14.9 g with class mark 12.45 g. The lowest weight frequency (2) was estimated for values ranging 6. 0-10.9 g with class mark 8.45 g. The highest condition factor frequency (49) was estimated for values ranging from 0.9-1.1 with class mark 1.0. The lowest condition factor frequency (4) was estimated for values ranging from 0.3-0.5 with class mark 0.4. From a sample size of 81 specimens, K value was 0.999 and the exponential equation was $Wt = = 0.05998 (TL)^{2 719}$, indicating an isometric growth pattern. There was no temporal variation in the condition of the fish with condition index value 0.99- 1.00 and condition factor value of 0.999 is an indication of the fish species poor condition.
Keywords:
Amassoma flood plains, condition factor, Niger delta, Nigeria, ophiocara porocephala, size composition,
Competing interests
The authors have no competing interests.
Open Access Policy
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Copyright
The authors have no competing interests.
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ISSN (Online): 2040-7467
ISSN (Print): 2040-7459 |
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