Fish Community Composition, Abundance and Distributions in Okura River in Dekina Local Government Area, Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

Fish communities can provide valuable insights into the ecological integrity of aquatic ecosystems as they are highly sensitive indicators of water quality. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to investigate the fish community composition, abundance and distribution in the Okura River in Dekina Local Government Area (LGA), Kogi State, Nigeria using appropriate standard procedures. Our results showed a total of seven (7) fish species belonging to six families and five orders. The variation in the Simpson, Shannon, weinner, dominance and evenness was not significantly different in the three dominant fish species encountered in the Okura River.  The index measured for fish species, showed slight difference among them. The variation in the Simpson, Shannon, Weiner and Evenness was not significant different in the three dominant fish species in the Okura River.  The Simpson index ranged from 0.953 in E. callipterus to 0.957 in T. zilli, the Shannon index ranges from 3.102 in E. callipterus to 3.156 in T. zilli. The fish community composition indicates that the fish communities are mature and stable. Periodic checks of the Okura River using fish communities as indicators of water quality can provide a framework for monitoring the ecological health of the water body.