The Fecundity of Brackish River Prawn (Macrobrachium macrobrachion, Herklots, 1851) from Great Kwa River, Obufa Esuk Beach, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria

The fecundity of Macrobrachium macrobrachion Herklots, 1851 from Great Kwa River, Obufa Esuk Beach, Cross River State, Nigeria. Shrimp were sample for a period of six months (February, 2006 - July, 2006). A total of 200 berried female shrimp were examined. The results show that the number of eggs ranged from 63 to 14,531. The mean number of eggs per female was 4,420.58. The eggs were spherical in shape; on the long axis the egg diameter ranged from 0.26 to 0.38mm with a mean of 0.33mm while on the short axis, the egg diameter ranged from 0.25 to 0.38mm with a mean of 0.31mm. There was a positive relationship between body weight, standard length, total length, carapace length and the number of eggs: Y = 155.7-1107x and r2 = 0.986, Y = 1148.4- 9353x and r2= 0.949, Y = 809.69-7578.8x and r2 = 0.949, Y = 848.39-8567x and r2 = 0.934 respectively. There was high correlation between female body weight, standard length, total length, carapace length and the number of eggs. Fecundity increases with the standard length, total length and carapace length. The number of eggs also increases with increase in body weight, standard length, total length and carapace length. Generally, fecundity was linear and a function of the body weight and body length. The study shows that the fecundity of the prawn was low when compared to other studies. Keywords: Egg diameters, Macrobrachium macrobrachion, Great Kwa River, Obufa Esuk Beach, Nigeria