Assessments of some morphometric parameters of Mormyrus rume (Valenciennes, 1846) from Lake Geriyo, Adamawa, Nigeria

Abstract

The length-weight relationship (LWRs), length-length relationship (LLRs), length-fork relationship (LFRs) and condition factors of elephant snout fish (Mormyrus rume) from Lake Geriyo was studied from October, 2022 to March, 2023. A total of one hundred and thirty four (134) samples of fish species were sampled monthly from artisanal fishers' catches at exactly 6:00am at the lake's landing site. The specimens comprises of 69 and 65 male and female respectively. The major fishing methods employed by fisher folks for collecting the specimens were cast netting and set netting. The results from this study indicated a negative allometric growth pattern for LWRs, LLRs and LFRs with highest exponent, b value of 1.157 for the females, and 1.090 in LLRs and 0.965 in LFRs all for the males. All LWRs, LLRs and LFRs were significant (p< 0.05) with most R 2 values > 0.8 whereas the mean condition factor, K, for all sexes was ranged from 0.75 to 0.88 which indicated that the fish species exhibited compromised wellbeing within the examined lake. Therefore, this present research was crucial in addressing the information void and supplying data for the effective management and conservation of the studied species within the lake system and also suggested the need for additional investigation to compare the periods of the year characterized by wet and dry seasons.