An evaluation of ichthyo-fauna composition of Oramiri-Ukwa River, Imo State, Nigeria

An aspect of artisanal fisheries of Oramiri-Ukwa River was studied for 6 months from January to June 2008, to get the base-line information on the artisanal fisheries of Oramiri-Ukwa River and appraise the Ichthyo-fauna of the river and their monthly distribution. Data collected was subjected to Simpson’s index, Shannon-Weiner index and Marglefs’ index analysis. The Ichthyofauna community was composed of 30 species representing 16 families with Cichlidae having the highest number of species. Nineteen (19) species were present in both wet and dry season. Wet season recorded more species than Dry season with 52.1% and 47.9% respectively. General diversity value of 0.856 (dry) and 0.672 (wet) was observed. Key words: Ichthyo-fauna, Oramiri-Ukwa, compositio