Assessment of Monthly and Seasonal Fish Compositions, Dominance and the Herbivore-Carnivore Ratio of Kashimbila Reservoir, Takum LGA, Taraba State, Nigeria

• Authors: M. S. Bingari , J. Auta , B. S. Bawa , A. Uzairu
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The monthly and seasonal composition, dominance, and the herbivore-carnivore ratio of Kashimbila Reservoir were assessed for twenty-four (24) months from August 2018 to July 2020. The work was aimed at exploring the fisheries resources of the reservoir to assess the sustainability of these resources. Experimental gillnets were used throughout the study. Fleets of multifilament nets of different mesh sizes ranging from 1.5 inches to 7.0 inches were used for the research. Each net measured 30 meters long and 3 meters high. These nets were set simultaneously at the selected stations between 5 and 6 pm and harvested in the morning between 7 and 8 am. Fish were sorted, measured, and identified using the relevant identification keys. The Reservoir revealed high species abundance, thirty-four (34) individual species belonging to fifteen (15) families were recorded. The Cichlidae family was the most abundant species, with Oreochromis niloticus and Coptodon zillii having the highest percentage abundance of 5.31% and 5.26%, respectively, of the 1,723 total catch in the first year of gillnet sampling, and dominated in abundance again in the second year with 5.49% for O. niloticus and 5,03% for C. zillii out of the 1,938 gillnet catches. Monthly and seasonal compositions revealed that the Cichlidae family dominated other families, and is closely followed by Claridae. February and March were the peaks of high catches in the two-year gillnet sampling. In 2018/2019. The percentage catch compositions were 19.56% and 20.43% for February and March, respectively, and 19.40% and 20.23% in the same order for 2019/2020 gillnet catches. There was carnivore dominance in all the months in 2018/ 2019 except in December, where the ratio was 1.15:1. In 2019/2020, the highest dominance was in November (1:5.31), and no herbivore was caught in December (0:1).

Keywords

EN

Composition; Coptodon zillii; Dominance; Herbivore-Carnivore Ratio; Oreochromis niloticus; Species; gillnet; multifilament

Discipline

• ENVIRONMENT_&_ECOLOGY: ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY

• Publisher: Scientific Publishing House „DARWIN”
• Journal: World News of Natural Sciences
• Year: 2025
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 255-269

Contributors

author

M. S. Bingari

• Department of Biological Science, Taraba State University, Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria

author

J. Auta

• Department of Biology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria

author

B. S. Bawa

• Department of Fisheries, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria

author

A. Uzairu

• Department of Chemistry, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria

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• Document Type: article