Quantitative Assessment Of Fish Species In Imo River

ABSTRACT

The ichthyofauna of Imo River in Nigeria was sampled for 6 months (February — July) at 2 different locations, namely; Umungwa Obowo in Obowo Local Government Area of Imo State and Owerrinta in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia state. The two locations are about 45km apart. The fishing gears used were the set gill net and the cast net. 15 fishing fish species were caught at Urnungwa Obowo and 11 at Owerrinta. Species like Tilapia, Oreochromis, Chrysichthys, Schilbe, Labeo, Gavialocharax, Odaxothrissa, Citharinus, Gnat honemus, Pellonula, Petrocephalus, Hydrocynus, Alestes, Sarotherodon and Prawn were caught at Umungwa Obowo. These species were also caught at Owerrinta except Petrocephalus, Hydrocynus, Pellonula and Sarotherodon 524 fish specimens were caught at Umungwa Obowo comprising 301 males and 223 females while 420 fish specimens were caught at Owerrinta consisting of 246 males and 174 females. Total weight of fish caught at Umungwa Obowo and Owerrinta were respectively 177.67kg and 141.45kg. The set net caught one species while the cast net caught 14 species. Tilapia zilli had a mean abundance of 23.08 followed by Oreochromis sp, 13.83 showing a significant difference (p