Evaluation of Ichthyo-Fauna Composition of Oramiri-Ukwa River Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Aspects of artisanal fisheries of Oramiri-Ukwa River were studied for six months from January to June 2008, to establish the base-line information about Ichthyo-fauna of the river and their monthly distribution. Data collected was subjected to Simpson’s, Shannon-Weiner and Marglefs’ index analysis. The Ichthyo-fauna community was composed of 30 species representing 16 families, with Cichlidae having the highest number of species. Nineteen species were present in both wet and dry season. Wet season recorded more species than dry season (52.1 and 47.9% respectively). General diversity value of 0.856 (dry) and 0.672 (wet) was observed. These findings indicate that Oramiri-Ukwa River is relatively undisturbed.