Zooplankton composition in four Reservoirs in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

The zooplankton community structure of four reservoirs (Kogingirin, Lamingo, Liberty and Tolemache) in Jos, Plateau State were studied for a period of two years (April 2012 to March 2014) using standard methods. The aim was to identify plankton structure as reference point for the sustainable management of the reservoirs for future developmental plan. The results identified four groups of zooplankton thus: Rotifera (59%), Cladocera (23%), Copepoda (14%) and Protozoan (4%). A total of 10 orders, 30 families and 130 species of zooplankton were collected across the reservoirs. Of this total, 22 species were common across the four reservoirs and 114 new species were identified. The order Ploimida was the most abundant while Brachionidae presented the highest number of family. Results obtained showed that reservoirs on the Plateau are highly resourceful in zooplankton.

Keywords: Zooplankton Composition, Reservoirs, Order, Species, Families