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Some aspects of the ecology of bagrid catfishes in a southern Nigerian river

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

George Idodo-Umeh  and
Reginald Victor
George Idodo-Umeh
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Benin, PMB 1154, Benin City, Nigeria, West Africa
Reginald Victor
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Benin, PMB 1154, Benin City, Nigeria, West Africa Department of Biology, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University, Po Box: 32486, Al-Khod, Sultanate of Oman
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Abstract

Some aspects of the ecology of bagrid catfishes in River Ase, southern Nigeria were studied for a period of two years. Nine species of Bagridae were recorded and these accounted for 15.0% of the number and 24.4% of the weight of all fish captured. Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus and Chrysichthys auratus longifilis were the principal species. C. nigrodigitatus was a rainy season species, while C. auratus longifilis was abundant in both dry and rainy seasons. Both species showed a major peak in catches between 0600 and 0900 h. C. nigrodigitatus exhibited a minor peak in catches between 1500 and 2100h, while C. auratus longifilis showed a minor peak between 1500 and 1800h. The spatial distribution of C. nigrodigitatus and C. auratus longifilis populations was heterogeneous. Bagrid fishes were an important component in the fish yield of the study river and its species composition has been compared with those of other Nigerian waters. The distribution and abundance of C. nigrodigitatus and C. auratus longifilis are discussed in detail.

Keywords

BagridaeecologyfishNigeriarivertropics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , May 1991 , pp. 221 - 232
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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