Asian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Research 3(1): 1-8, 2019; Article no.AJFAR.47271 Fish Species Composition and Morphological Descriptions of Five Dominant Families from Inland Waters of Kebbi State-Nigeria D. Y. Bawaa1*, S. M. Nurul Amin2, Aziz bin Arshad2, Fatimah Md Yusoff2 and L. A. Argungu3 1Department of Fisheries, Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero, Nigeria. 2Department of Aquaculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. 3Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration among all authors. Authors DYB and SMNA designed the study, performed the statistical analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Authors ABA and FMY managed the analyses of the study. Author LAA managed the literature searches. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/AJFAR/2019/v3i130024 Editor(s): (1) Forcep Rio Indaryanto, Lecturer, Department of Fisheries, University of Sultan Ageng Tritayasa, Indonesia. Reviewers: (1) Ali Türker, Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Turkey. (2) Godwin S. Adaka, Federal University of Technology, Nigeria. (3) Theodoros Mavraganis, Holar University College, Iceland. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sdiarticle3.com/review-history/47271 Received 19 December 2018 Accepted 08 March 2019 Original Research Article Published 30 March 2019 ABSTRACT A study was conducted on fish species composition and morphological features of five dominant fish families from the inland waters of Kebbi state, Nigeria between January and December 2017. Three major fishing communities (Argungu, Sabiyel and Yauri) were selected for the study. Fish samples were qualitatively collected from the commercial landings of the fishermen using gill nets. The analysis of the distribution of fish species were analyzed using Microsoft Excel software In total 18 fish species belonging to 10 families were identified from the inland waters of Kebbi state. Viz: Bagridae, Cichlidae, Claridae, Mormyridae, Citharacidae, Characidae, Mochokidae, Melaptaruridae, Schilbeidae and Cyprinidae. Among the 10 identified families, Bagridae (22.22%) and Mormyridae (16.66%) which accounted for four and three species respectively, were the most dominant families. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: Email: [email protected], [email protected]; Bawaa et al.; AJFAR, 3(1): 1-8, 2019; Article no.AJFAR.47271 Keywords: Fish species; morphological features; inland waters; Kebbi state Nigeria. 1. INTRODUCTION 40°C, annual rain fall range of 450-1050mm and relative humidity ranges from 51-79% and 10- Fishing is an essential business in many 25% during rainy and dry seasons respectively. countries of the world, through the provision The main economic activity is agriculture and employment, income and it plays a significant over 70% of the people practice one form of role in assisting livelihood globally and also agriculture or the other [8]. formulate a significant source of diet aimed at over one billion people [1]. Nwafili Sylvanus and 2.2 Fish Samples Collection Gao [2] classified the Nigeria inland water fishery resource as the lucrative in fish diversity in the Fish sample were collected from three different whole West African sub-region with above 311 landing centers A, B and C namely Argungu, species. Nigeria has the largest natural aquatic Sabiyel and Yauri respectively during the months environment that brings spawning and feeding of January to December 2017. These three habitats for a huge amount of freshwater and sampling sites cover the fishing grounds of Kebbi brackish water fish species [3,4]. These aquatic State and were chosen to represent the environments with above 270 fish species geographical locations of the fishery and the diversities are outstanding in terms of richness in targeted stocks and to account for geographical West Africa [3]. The diversity and conservation of differences in species availability and fish in inland water has attracted the attention of composition. The frame survey involved going many researchers over the periods. There are round the entire three selected landing sites only a few documented records of fish species recording of the content of a canoe that had composition in spite of the fact that they landed from a fishing trip. The commercial catch constitute the bulk of animal protein source. Only was acquired from fishermen working within the a small fraction of inland aquatic ecosystems inland waters of Kebbi State and the raw data have been scientifically investigated [5]. contained monthly catch returns (kg) per species, Ogundiwin [6] discovered about 36 families and location and date were recorded [9]. These 243 species mainly from freshwater, in Niger fishermen used the gill net with the mesh size of basin a region of high fish abundance in Nigeria. the minimum 30m net was 1.25 inches, while the Similarly, Ita [5] found out that, there are about medium 30m net was 1.50 inches and maximum 268 diverse fish species in 34 well recognized 30m net was 1.75. The gill nets were regularly Nigeria freshwater Lakes, rivers and reservoirs, set in between 5pm and 6pm (evening) and pick with a surface of about 98,185, kilometer square up between 7am and 9am (morning). Ikomi and are equivalent to 12% of the Nigeria entire area. Odum [10] revealed that setting the nets in the Kebbi State is blessed with abundant inland mornings and removing them up in the fisheries resources that contribute to the afternoons or evening had continuously resulted livelihood of Artisanal fishermen in the state. in very poor catches. Despite the considerable importance of small- scale fishing in Kebbi state, scanty published 2.3 Species Identification literature on species available in the inland waters. Therefore, the present study attempts to The fishes trapped and caught at night were complement the gap. removed from the nets in the following morning and preserved in polythene bags. Similarly, 10% 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS formalin solution was added to prevent spoilage since the two site (A and C) were more than 2.1 Study Area 100km each away from the laboratory. In the laboratory, the fish caught was examined, Kebbi state is situated in the extreme north- arranged, and sorted according to the family and western of Nigeria. It is lies between latitude species and the number of individuals for each 13o5458.93’ - 11o727.00" N and longitude species was recorded. The identities of the 3°3258.00’ - 4°53’19.71"E (Fig. 1). It covers specimen were determined through keys and approximately 18.591 Km2 and with a population description in the existing literatures of of about 2.757.544 million people almost [7]. The [11,12,13]. The samples were later preserved in mean annual temperature is between 35°C to the laboratory for other analyses. 2 Bawaa et al.; AJFAR, 3(1): 1-8, 2019; Article no.AJFAR.47271 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Fish Species Composition In total of 18 species representing 10 families were identified from the inland waters of Kebbi State, Nigeria (Table 1). Table 1. Composition and relative abundance of fish species and families from inland waters of Kebbi state Nigeria S/N Family Species Stations % A B C Bagrus bayad ● ● ● 1. Bagrus orientalis ● ● ● Bagridae Clarotes lateceps ● 22.22 Bagrus docmac ● ● ● 2. Cichlidae Oreochromis niloticus ● ● ● 5.56 Clarias anguilaris ● 3. Claridae Heterobranchus bidorsalis ● ● ● 11.11 Gnatonemus tamandua ● 4. Mormyridae Hyperopsis bebes occidentalis ● ● 16.66 Mormyrus rume ● ● 5. Citharacidae Citharinus citharus ● ● 5.56 Hydrocynus forskalii ● ● 6. Characidae Alastes macrolepidotus ● 11.11 Synodontis nigrita ● ● ● 11.11 7. Mochokidae Hemisynodontis membranaceous ● ● 8. Melaptaruridae Melaptarurus electricus ● ● ● 5.56 9. Schilbeidae Schilbe mystrus ● ● 5.56 10 Cyprinidae Labeo coubie ● ● 5.56 Total 13 9 18 Note: (●) represent presence of fish species in a station 1A- Bagrus bayad (Bagridae) 1B-Mormyrus rume (Mormyridae) 1C-Clarias anguilaris (Clariidae) 1D-Hydrocynus forskalii (Characidae) 3 Bawaa et al.; AJFAR, 3(1): 1-8, 2019; Article no.AJFAR.47271 1E-Synodontis nigrita (Mochokidae) Plate 1(A-E). Picture of the five dominant fish families collected from the inland waters of Kebbi State, Nigeria All the18 fish species present in the inland inland waters of Nigeria. waters of Kebbi state were found in station C. This was followed by station A where 13 fish 3.2 Morphological Description species were encountered. The least fish species abundant station was B wheres only 9 species Bagridae: This family is one of the most diverse were recorded as at the time of this report (Table in the study area (Table 1). It is found in fresh 1). The family Bagridae which accounted for water; Africa and Asia to Japan and Borneo. 22.2% of all the fish species encountered was These species are observed to have a wide the most abundant family. This is similar to what range of natural distribution in all principal river- was obtained in a study of fish composition and systems of Africa. They were reported in the Nile diversity assessment of Apodu reservoir, Malete, River, Lakes Albert and Turkana, Lake Chad, Nigeria where Bagridae was found to be the Niger and Senegal Rivers and also found in Setit most dominant [14]. The five fish families that in Eritrea and the Tekeze basins in Ethiopia [20]. were present and dominant throughout the study area are likely due to the relative abundance of Bagridae are commonly known as naked the species in northern Nigeria, as indicated by catfishes or bagrid catfishes (Plate 1A). Their Ataguba, et al. [15] and Adeosun, et al. [16] who body is moderately elongated and relatively large noted that Mormyridae, Cichlidae, Characidae, head with protruding, oval-shaped, bulbous eyes. Mochokidae, and Claridae were more common in Their dorsal fin is preceded by a spine, typically northern Nigeria and likewise, the type of with 6 or 7 soft rays (rarely 8-20); adipose fin harvesting method as indicated by Allison and present and highly variable in size between Okadi [17].