Evaluation of diversity index of fish fauna in a Lowland Rice field in Southern Guinea Savannah of Northern Nigeria

Abstract

The data used in this paper was obtained from the National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI) experimental farm, Badegi, Niger State, Nigeria. A Simple Random sampling technique was adopted to evaluate the counts of some fish fauna species in a low land rice field. The study was to determine the fish fauna diversity in terms of species, abundance, genera and family index in relation to fish growth and rice production. The experimental site was divided into 6 plots of equal sizes. At every visit or sampling time 3 plots were randomly selected and all fish fauna species found were categorized under 7 families. A total of 12 species of fish fauna belonging to 10 genera and 7 families were harvested for 89 days fortnightly. The fish species caught were identified, collected and documented according to plots. Factors such as Dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, conductivity were determined. Fertilizer application enhances rice yield while herbivorous fish such as Tilli zilli fed on aquatic weeds to reduce weed growth hence boost rice-cum-fish farming. The study revealed that plots II, III and VI were more productive in comparison to other plots.