Species Composition and Diversity of Coastal Trawled Fishes Landed Off the Coast of Qua Iboe River Estuary, Ibeno, Nigeria

Abstract

An assessment of the specie composition and diversity of fish species from Qua Iboe River Estuary was carried out over a period of six months (March-August, 2019). A total of thirty - one (31) species representing seventeen (17) families were identified under the families Bothidae, Charangidae, Clupeidae, Cynoglossidae, Drepanidae, Eleotridae, Gobiidae, Haemulidae, Polynemidae, Soleidae, Sciaenidae, Sparidae, Sphyraenidae, Scombridae, Tetraodontidae, Trachinidae and Trichuridae. Monthly abundance was lowest in April (122 specimens; 6.21 %) and was highest in March (545 specimens; 27.72 %). The longest species was Trichirus lepturus while the shortest were Drepane africana and Selena dorsalis. Family Sciaenidae had the highest representation in terms of species and Haemulidae had the highest number of individuals. Shannon-Weiner Index of general Diversity (H) value was showing dominance of in Charangidae family. Evenness Index (E) showed all the species were not equally distributed in the waters. Assessment of the condition factor (K) revealed that 22 out of 31 fish species K values less than 5 showing good body condition and wellbeing of the fish while 11 species showed bad body condition. The estuary has a rich ichthyofauna complex. Effective exploitation measures should be used to deter the menace of local extinction in the near future.