Fish Assemblage of Amadi Creek, Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria

Authors

  • Adaba T. Ibim Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
  • Lilian C. Njoku

Keywords:

Abundance, Composition, Diversity, Fin fish.

Abstract

The Amadi Creek, is a vital inland water body in Port-Harcourt, exploited for numerous reasons, including fishing. However, no information exists on the fin fish assemblage of the creek. This research is aimed at documenting the fish population of the Creek.  A twelve week survey was conducted, and landed fish collected from fishers using indiscriminate fishing gears. The Fin fish Composition, Diversity and Abundance were ascertained using standard methods. A total 8,5552 fin fishes composed of 3 families, the Cichlid with two species (Sarotheredon  melanotheron and    Coptodon  zilli), the Mugilidae and Clupeidae  with one species each (Mugil  cephalus  and Sardinella maderensis, respectively) .The Sarotheredon  melanotheron. Generally, diversity was low with only 4 species in the creek. Quantitatively, the family diversity of the Cichlids were high (50%), the Mugilidae and Clupeidae were low (25%) each. Species diversity revealed Sarotheredon melanotheron was higher (97.7%), Sardinella maderensis (1.1%), Mugil cephalus (0.8%), and  Coptodon  zilli lowest (0.5%)  The diversity was significant (P<0.05) between the weeks. Species Abundance revealed that Sarotheredon melanotheron was dominant, Mugil cephalus   and Sardinella maderensis few, and Coptodon zilli rare. It could be concluded that besides the Sarotheredon melanotheron the fishes were threatened. It is therefore recommended that prolonged research be carried out to establish the cause of the threat, status of the fin fishes and management strategies be developed to protect the fish species under threat.

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2018-01-28

How to Cite

T. Ibim, A., & C. Njoku, L. (2018). Fish Assemblage of Amadi Creek, Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences, 39(1), 180–196. Retrieved from https://asrjetsjournal.org/index.php/American_Scientific_Journal/article/view/3772

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