Plankton and Macrobiota Composition and Diversity of Three Tropical Freshwaters Rivers in Ogun and Ondo States, Southwest Nigeria
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Date
2016
Authors
Adesalu, T. A.
Kunrunmi, O. A.
Lawal, M. O.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Horticulture and Forestry Society from Transylvania
Abstract
Three different rivers in Ogun and Ondo states were investigated for both micro and macro-biota of the water bodies. Several
physical and chemical properties of these rivers were determined. The pH value of the studied water bodies was essentially neutral with
salinity values between 0.02 - 4.0‰. Microalgae communities were represented by three divisions: Cyanophyta, Bacillariophyta and
Chlorophyta at Oluwa and Ifara Rivers (Ondo state), while at Ibefun River (Ogun state), five divisions: Cyanophyta, Bacillariophyta,
Chlorophyta, Euglenophyta and Pyrrhophyta were identified. Diatoms dominated these water bodies, with Navicula radiosa Kutz. at Ifara
River, Fragilaria sp. in Oluwa River, while out of 90 algal taxa identified in Ibefun river, 64 were diatoms species belonging to 26 genera, with
Melosira sp. and Synedra sp. recording the highest numbers of cell count. Dinoflagellates recorded only Peridinium sp. while Phacus
orbicularis Hubner and Trachelomonas sp. dominated the euglenoids. For the zooplankton composition at Ibefun, rotifers (75.95%) were
represented by Brachionus sp., which recorded 62.03%, and Gastropus sp. with 13.92% of the total zooplankton, thus dominated the
spectrum, while the copepod recorded 22.78% of the total organisms, with Copilia sp. and Euchirella sp. having 8.86% each. The
macrobenthic invertebrates were represented by 3 taxa, belonging to 3 groups, with the dominant group Insecta accounted for 57% of the
total individuals (7 individuals/m2), while Oligochaeta and Hirudinea accounted for 29% and 14% respectively of the total individuals at
Oluwa and Ifara Rivers. At Ibefun River, the macrobenthic invertebrates were represented by 5 taxa, belonging to 3 groups, Bivalves,
Oligochaeta and Insecta, with bivalves being the dominant group (51.7% of the total individuals, as 64 individuals/m2), while Oligochaeta
and Insecta accounted for 26.6% and 21.9% respectively of the total individuals. The dominant taxon, Macoma cumana, accounted for
42.2%. A total of seventeen (17) finfish and shellfish species comprised of thirteen (13) finfish and four (4) shellfish species were recorded,
being representative of freshwater and brackish water species; Clarias anguillaris (Clariidae), Tilapia zilli (Cichlidae), Chrysichthys
nigrodigitatus (Bagridae), Alestes spp. and Macrobrachium vollenhovenii (Palaemonidae) were the most common species observed.
Description
Keywords
algae , benthos , fish , plankton , rivers , water chemistry
Citation
Adesalu, T. A., Kunrunmi, O. A. and Lawal, M. O. (2016). Plankton and Macrobiota Composition and Diversity of Three Tropical Freshwaters Rivers in Ogun and Ondo States, Southwest Nigeria. Notulae Scientia Biologicae 8(2):246-255