Condition Factor and Length-Weight Relationship of Berried African River Prawn (Macrobrachium vollenhovenii) in Asejire Reservoir, Nigeria

Abstract

The condition factor and length-weight relationship of 209 berried Macrobrachium vollenhovenii from Asejire Reservoir was examined for a period of six months. Regression analysis was used to determine the length-weight relationship while the data were also subjected to Descriptive analysis, Standard deviations and frequency distribution to evaluate means. The relationship among parameters was determined by correlation. The mean total length was 13.45±1.41 cm while the mean total weight was 76.25±9.63 g. The mean length and mean weight of cephalothorax were 6.98±1.13 cm and 21.05±3.49 g respectively. The total weight had strong and positive correlation with weight of walking leg (0.93); Body weight (0.94) and length of walking leg (0.95). The condition factor which measures the general well-being of fish ranged from 2.79 to 3.33 (mean = 3.14) while the regression coefficient (b) of weight and length ranged from 1.98 to 2.33. The study revealed that berried M. vollenhovenii exhibited negative allometric growth while their condition factor showed that prawns from Asejire reservoir were healthy even in their reproductive stages. This showed that the study area is conducive for the development and sustenance of M. vollenhovenii despite the various human activities in the reservoir and its seed could be used for aquaculture industry