The characteristics of the moonfish, Citharinus citharus (Eoffroy–St Hilaire, 1809) of Lake Oguta, Nigeria

Abstract

Aquaculture holds the highest prospect for increased fish production in Nigeria and can only thrive if proven culturable fishes are available and diversified. This has necessitated the characterization of non-conventional culturable species, which abound in the wild. An example of such fish with very high potential for culture purposes is Citharinus citharus of Lake Oguta. The present study therefore investigates the identity of the fish using the morpho-meristic analysis method. All the important diagnostic features evaluated conformed to the values recorded and features described for C. Citharus of the region (Upper Niger). Of particular importance for field identification of fingerlings for culture purposes are the number of scales between the lateral line and the pelvic fin (lower transverse series), which was 17-20 and number of scales in the longitudinal (lateral line) series, 81-92; fin ray counts are as fellows: Div-vi, 14-15 and A iii – iv, 23-27. It is hoped that the resulting information will assist fish farmers in procuring seed of this fish from the wild and will serve for the general development of aquaculture in Nigeria.