Non-Cichlid Fish Communities of Warri River at Agbarho Niger Delta Area, Nigeria

Abstract

Studies on the composition of non-cichlid species in Warri River at Agbarho in The Niger Delta Area of Southern Nigeria were conducted between April and September 2005. A total of 26 species belonging to 16 families and 21 genera were encountered. Characidae, Morymyridae and Mochokidae were the most abundant fish families. Synodontis courteti, Synodontis sorex and Brycinus longipinnis were captured throughout the sampling period. The general diversity Index (H) shows that 0.926 was the highest and occurred in the month of August and the lowest (0.636) occurred in the month of May. The reverse was noticed in Evenness Index (E¹) as the month of May had the highest value of 0.904 and August, the lowest (0.269). It can be inferred that the poor fauna composition, abundance and diversity of fish community structure of Warri River at Agbarho might be as a result of the exclusion of the cichlid species in the course of this research.

Keywords: Non-cichlids, Characidae, Morymyridae, Mochokidae, species diversity

Journal of Aquatic Sciences 28 (1): 17-23 (2013)