Current Research Journal of Biological Sciences 3(6): 616-621, 2011
ISSN:2041-0778
© Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2011
Submitted: September 8, 2011
Accepted: September 30, 2011
Published November 15, 2011
The Length-Weight Relationships of Brackish Water/Marine Fish Species
Assemblage in a Niger Delta Mangrove Creek, Nigeria
1
B.J. Oribhabor, 2A.E. Ogbeibu and 1M.T. Udo
Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Uyo,
P.M.B. 1017, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
2
Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, University of Benin, P.M.B. 1154,
Benin City, Nigeria
1
Abstract: The fish species assemblage in a Niger Delta mangrove creek, Nigeria, of 25 species from 16
families comprising a total of 1163 individuals were determined for the parameters of length-weight
relationships, from November, 2004 to June, 2006. The fish samples were collected from three stations at flood
tides. The fishing gears used were hooks and lines, and cast net. The estimated values of the exponent (b)
ranged between 0.97 (Epinephelus aeneus) and 5.67 (Dasyatis margarita). The mean value of ‘b’ for all the
species was 3.16 (SD = 0.093). Apart from b values of E. aeneus (0.97), L. goreensis (2.15), T. guineensis
(4.25) and D. margarita (5.67) which were significantly different from 3, indicating allometric growth pattern,
the other species had ‘b’ values not significantly different from 3, indicating isometric growth pattern. The
regression coefficient (r) ranged from 0.22 for E. aeneus to 0.99 for T. lepturus. Except for E. aeneus, the r for
the length-weight relationships of the fishes is high which indicate increase in length with increase in weight.
Except for E. aeneus, L. agennes and D. margarita, analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there was
highly significant regression (p<0.001; 0.01; 0.05) of weight on length for the fish species. This study adds
more information to the existing data on the management and culture of fish species in Buguma Creek which
has the first Brackish Water Experimental Fish Farm in Nigeria.
Key words: Fish species, length weight relationships, mangrove creek, Niger delta, Nigeria
Limited information is available on the length-weight
relationships of fish of Nigerian coastal waters. Earlier
studies include those of Alfred-Ockiya and Njoku (1995)
for mullets in New Calabar River, King (1996) on
Nigerian coastal fishes, King and Udo (1996) on the
mudskipper Periopthalmus barbarus of Imo River
Estuary, Hart (1997) for Mugil cephalus in Bonny
Estuary, Diri (2002) for Tilapis guineensis in Elechi
Creek, Fafioye and Oluajo (2005) for 5 species of Epe
Lagoon, Abowei et al. (2009) for five species of Nkoro
River and Abowei (2009) for Cynoglossus of Nkoro
River. Although Oribhabor et al. (2009a) determined the
length-weight relationship of Sarotherodon melanotheron
and Tilapia guineensis of Buguma Creek, Niger Delta,
Nigeria, this is the first attempt to document the lengthweight relationships of the fish species assemblage of the
creek.
INTRODUCTION
The Niger Delta is the home of the largest stands of
mangrove in Africa (over one million ha) and the fourth
largest in the world (Spalding et al., 1997), with rich
fishery resources. Much is still needed to preserve the
ecosystem in view of the potent oil pollution and
aggressive replacement Rhizophora racemosa dominated
mangrove by the exotic nipa palm (Nypa fruiticans).
Length-weight relationships of fish are important fishery
management tools (Alfred-Ockiya, 2000). Knowledge of
quantitative aspects such as weight-length relationship,
condition factor, growth, recruitment and mortality of
fishes is an important tool for the study of fish biology
(Lizama et al., 2002).
The length-weight relationship of fish are important
in population assessments (Ricker, 1968; Khaironizam
and Norma-Rashid, 2002). They are applicable in
estimating the standing stock biomass, calculating
condition indices and comparing the ontogeny of fish
population from different regions (Petrakis and Stergiou,
1995; Odat, 2003). The relationships between the length
and the weight are related with metabolism in each
species and the environment where they live (Claro and
Garcia-Arteaga, 1994; Gonzalez-Ganadara et al., 2003).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The Buguma Creek is located Southeast of the Niger
Delta between longitude 6º47!E and 6º59!E and latitude
and 4°31!N and 4°59!N (Fig. 1) in Asari-Toru Local
Government Area of Rivers State. The Buguma Creek
serves as a source of tidal water for Nigeria Institute for
Corresponding Author: B.J. Oribhabor, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Uyo,
P.M.B. 1017, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, Tel: +234 (0) 8033558270
616
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 3(6):616-621, 2011
Fig. 1: Map of the Study Area, A: Nigeria showing Niger Delta, B: Rivers State showing Buguma, C: The study creek showing
sampling stations
the species level, using they keys and descriptions of
(Schnieder, 1990; Teugels et al., 1992; Olaosebikan and
Raji, 2004). The body weights of the fish were measured
to the nearest 0.1g using a Scout Pro SPU 401Ohius Top
loading balance, while the standard lengths and total
lengths were measured to the accuracy of 0.1cm using a
measuring board.
The length-weight relationships were computed using
the equations:
Oceanoraphy and Marine Research/Buguma Brackish
water Experimental Fish Farm, which was constructed
between 1963 and 1966 under the auspices of the FAO. A
more detailed description of the study area have been
given by (Ogbeibu and Oribhabor, 2008; Oribhabor et al.,
2009b; Oribhabor and Ogbeibu, 2009b).
The fish samples were collected in three study
stations from November 2004 to June, 2006 at flood tides.
The fishing gears used were hooks and lines, and cast net.
Fish samples were pooled after capture, and immediately
transported to the laboratory for analysis. In the
laboratory, fish specimens were sorted and identified to
W = aLb
617
(1)
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 3(6):616-621, 2011
Table 1: Length-weight relationship parameters, minimum and maximum length and weight of buguma creek fishes, November 2004 - June 2006
Total length (cm)
Standard length (cm)
Weight(g)
Length-weight relationship
( X ±S.D)
(Min-Max)
14.85±9.26
(8.3-21.4)
24.53±9.99
(13.8-53.5)
23.37±1.98
(21.4-26.7)
9.00±6.08
(4.7-13.3)
18.44±2.75
(12.2-22.0)
22.58±5.33
(17.3-30.0)
20.33±5.90
(14.3-33.9)
20.64±7.39
(14.6-29.4)
18.75±4.67
(13.0-37.0)
23.37±6.20
(10.7-36.0)
33.26±10.79
(23.9-70)
( X ±S.D)
(Min-Max)
11.50±7.78
(6.0-17.0)
20.04±7.57
(10.4-40.3)
18.06±1.36
(16.2-20.3)
7.35±5.44
(3.5-11.2)
13.84±2.04
(9.1-16.2)
17.95±4.96
(13.6-25.0)
16.19±4.94
(11.1-28.2)
17.0±6.41
(11.7-24.0)
15.16±3.59
(10.3-31.2)
18.09±4.37
(7.8-25.3)
26.76±9.35
(18.5-58.0)
( X ±S.D)
(Min-Max)
25.15±32.32
(2.3-48.0)
211.44±237.86
(20.7-801)
154.14±70.16
(96.2-306.2)
12.00±15.69
(0.9-3.1)
83.86±34.98
(20.6-130.0)
153.75±82.29
(80.0-265.0)
169.91±187.51
(45.0-675.0)
220.76±223.28
(48.8-450.0)
101.03±99.01
(20.1-770.0)
123.57±74.49
(11.2-300.0)
366.15±475.06
(92.4-2300)
-----------------------------------------------a
b
r
-
766
20.65±4.71
(10.5-38.6)
15.92±3.73
(8.1-31.7)
39
13.57±2.78
(7.7-18.6)
11.41±1.069
(9.5-12.5)
16.53±4.68
(9.0-24.0)
(19.7-19.7)
11.85±1.89
(8.5-16.4)
22.75±8.41
(16.8-28.7)
45.74±6.31
(36.8-53.0)
(21-21)
(48.5-48.5)
18.21±11.17
(10.5-56.8)
56.7±11.87
(43.0-64.1)
(50-50)
111.83±14.85
(100-128.5)
10.30±2.07
(5.5-13.6)
8.68±0.94
(7.5-10.1)
12.61±3.51
(7.0-18.0)
(15-15)
9.12±1.47
(6.5-12.7)
17.80±6.65
(13.1-22.5)
36.56±5.20
(29.543.0)
(18.4-18.4)
(40–40)
13.54±8.46
(7.7-43.0)
48.9±10.31
(37-55.2)
(46-46)
32.27±2.41
30.0-34.8)
Fish species
Elops lacerta
2
Arius gigas
54
Epinephelus
aeneus
Gobius sp.
7
Caranx latus
10
Lutjanus
agennes
Lutjanus
goreensis
Plectorhnchus
macrolepsis
Pomadasys
jubelini
Argyrosomus
regius
Pseudotolithus
(Pseudotolithus)
senegalensis
Pseudotolithus
(Fonticulus)
elongatus
Psettias sebae
4
2
7
5
72
12
24
Sarotherodon
melanotheron
Tilapia
guineensis
Liza falcipinnis
8
Mugil curema
31
Mugil cephalus
2
Sphyraena afra
5
Sphyraena
guachancho
Sphyraena
sphyraena
Polydactylus
quadrifilis
Trichiurus
lepturus
Cynoglossus
senegalensis
Dasyatis
margarita
1
18
1
1
85
3
1
3
n: Total number of individuals per species;
X
3.09
0.95 (p<0.001)
0.82
0.97
0.22
-
-
-
2.22
3.25
0.96 (p<0.001)
0.75
2.15
0.93
1.97
3.12
0.98 (p<0.001)
2.06
3.23
0.98 (p<0.01)
1.81
2.92
0.96 (p<0.001)
1.53
2.61
0.94 (p<0.001)
2.03
2.94
0.99 (p<0.001)
75.04±56.71
(7.9-580.0)
2.29
3.12
0.96 (p<0.001)
66.32±42.39
10.0-220.0)
26.05±6.99
(15.4-31.8)
112.87±90.85
(5.0-290.0)
(50-50)
17.42±8.92
(5.0-45.0)
105.0±106.07
(30.0-180.0)
396.16±230.57
(209.6-675.0)
(41-41)
(485-485)
122.92±258.57
(16.6-1250)
113.17±69.82
(32.8-158.9)
(350-350)
1295±1069.5
(675-2530)
2.04
3.34
0.93 (p<0.001)
1.75
2.98
0.98 (p<0.001)
3.29
4.25
0.99 (p<0.001)
-
-
-
2.03
3.01
0.96 (p<0.001)
-
-
-
3.29
3.53
0.93 (p<0.05)
-
-
-
-
-
-
1.71
2.74
0.98 (p<0.001)
4.93
3.95
0.99 (p<0.01)
-
-
-
8.58
5.67
0.97
: Mean; Regression coefficients: a: Scaling constant; b: allometric growth parameter
and transformed to:
Log W = Log a + Log bL
2.32
RESULTS
(2)
The fish species assemblage of 25 species from 16
families comprising a total of 1163 individuals were
determined for the parameters of length-weight
relationships. Sample size, length and weight ranges,
parameter estimates and regression coefficients (r) for
each species are presented in Table 1.
Sample size ranged from one for L. falcipinnis,
S. guachancho, S. sphyraena and C. senegalensis to seven
hundred and sixty-six (766) for P. (Fonticulus) elongatus.
where, W = weight (g), L = total length (cm), a =
intercept (constant) and b = slope (growth exponent). For
each species, a and b values were estimated by least
squares regression (Lagler et al., 1962; Bagenal, 1978).
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test whether
the calculated regression line was significant (Ogbeibu,
2005).
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Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 3(6):616-621, 2011
Regression of E. lacerta, Gobius sp., L. falcipinnis,
M. cephalus, S. guachancho, S. sphyraena and
C. senegalensis could not be determined because sample
size was less than 3.
The estimated values of b ranged between 0.97
(E. aeneus) and 5.67 (D. margarita). The ‘b’ values of
A. gigas (3.09), C. latus (3.25), L. goreensis (3.12),
P. macrolepsis (3.23), P. jubelini (2.92), A. regius (2.61),
P. senegalensis (2.94), P. elongatus (3.12), P. sebae
(3.34), S. melanotheron (2.98), M. curema (3.01) and
P. quadrifilis (2.74) were not significantly different from
3. ‘b’ values of E. aeneus (0.97), L. goreensis (2.15),
T. guineensis (4.25) and D. margarita (5.67) were
significantly different from 3. The mean value of ‘b’ for
all the species was 3.16 (SD = 0.093).
The regression coefficient (r) ranged from 0.22 for
E. aeneus to 0.99 for T. lepturus. Analysis of variance
(ANOVA) showed that there was highly significant
regression (p<0.001) of weight on length for C. latus,
A. gigas, L. goreensis, P. jubelini, A. regius,
P. senegalensis, P. elongatus, P. Sebae, S. melanotheron,
L. guineensis, M. curema and P. quadrifilis. There was
significant regression (p<0.01) of weight on length for
P. macrolepsis and T. lepturus, and (p<0.05) for S. afra.
However, there was no significant regression of weight on
length for E. aeneus, L. agennes and D. Margarita,
Except for E. aeneus, the correlation coefficient (r) was
high for all the species.
2000). The mean ‘b’ value of 3.16 reported for this study
is not significantly different from the value of 2.80
reported by (Abdurahiman et al., 2004).
Several authors have reported both isometric and
allometric growth for different species from various water
bodies. King (1991) reported allometric growth patterns
for Tilapia species from Umuoseriche Lake. Oribhabor
et
al.
(2009a)
reported
isometric
growth
for S. melanotheron and T. guineensis in this creek,
whereas in this study, allometric growth was
reported for T. guineensis. This difference could be
attributed to difference in sample size. Ekeng (1990) and
Marcus (1984) reported isometric growth pattern for
Ethmalosa fimbrita of Cross River Estuary, Cross River
State, and coastal and brackish water of Akwa Ibom State
respectively. Although ‘b’ value for C. senegalensis could
not be determined because of only one individual
encountered in this study, Abowei et al. (2009) have
reported positive allometry for C. senegalensis of Nkoro
River, Niger Delta, Nigeria.
Values of the length component in the length-weight
relationship being isometric implies that the fish species
did not increase in weight faster than the cube of their
total length. However, the weight of E. aeneus,
L. goreensis, T. guineensis and D. margarita which
indicated allometric growth increased faster than the cube
of their total lengths. This indicated that these species are
part of the few finfishes that obeyed the cube law of
growth which is rarely obeyed (Le Cren, 1951; AlfredOckiya, 2000). Beverton and Holt (1957) recorded that
cubic relationship between length and weight existed and
suggested that the value of ‘b’ is almost always near to
3.0. Ricker (1958a) observed that a fair number of species
seems to approach this ideal (Anbalagan et al., 2009).
DISCUSSION
When comparing length-weight relationships
available in the literature, one might find wild variability
in parameter estimates for a single species (Frota et al.,
2004). This is due to the fact that the length-weight
relationship is affected by many factors related to
population variability and to sampling and estimation
methods. Sampling related factors include sample size,
length distribution in the sample and type of length
measure, while nutritional conditions account for intrinsic
biological variability (Ricker, 1975).
Except for E. aeneus, the correlation coefficient (r)
for the length-weight relationship of the fishes is high
which indicate increase in length with increase in weight.
This agreed with earlier studies involving fish species
from different water bodies (Fagade and Olaniyan, 1972;
Fagade, 1983; Laléyé, 2006; Ayoada and Ikulala, 2007).
The values of b (growth exponent) for all the species,
except for E. aeneus and D. margarita were within the
limits (2-4) reported by Tesch (1971) for most fishes ‘b’
value of E. aeneus and L. goreensis (b<3.0) indicated
negative allometry, T. guineensis and D. margarita
(b>3.0) indicated positive allometry, while other species
with ‘b’ not significantly different from 3 indicated
isometric growth (Khaironizam and Norma-Rashid,
CONCLUSION
The extensive Niger Delta mangrove creeks is fast
being depleted with paucity of data on the diverse fish
resources. The Buguma creek has been used in
experimental aquaculture since early 1960s without data
on the biology of over 25 fish species in the creek. This
study on the length-weight relationships of 25 species of
fishes in the creek is the sixth in a series to provide
information on the biology of the fish species. This study
adds more information to the existing data on the
management and culture of fish species in Buguma creek
which has the first Brackish Water Experimental Fish
Farm in Nigeria.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We are grateful to Dr. Ezenwa, B. I. and Mr. Ugbodu,
V. A. of Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine
Research Lagos, Nigeria for their support that initiated the
choice of this study. The support of Prof. Okaka, C. E. of
University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria is also highly
appreciated.
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Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 3(6):616-621, 2011
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