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Copepoda Fauna of Okpoka Creek, Upper Reaches of Bonny Estuary, Rivers State, Nigeria

Atemie, B. O, ., Deekae, S.N, ., and George, A.D.I

Abstract

This study investigated the composition, abundance, distribution, seasonal variation, and diversity of copepods in Okpoka Creek from December 2018 to November 2019, A total of 1,592 individual copepods belonging to 24 genera and 32 species were identified from ten taxonomic families, namely Clausocalanidae, Temoridae, Pontellidae, Cyclopidae, Centropagidae, Arcatidae, Candaciidae, Metridinidae, Euchaetidae, and Calanidae. Cyclopidae was the dominant family with 21.55% relative abundance, followed by Arcatidae (14.01%) and Temoridae (13.57%). The dominant species recorded were Pseudocalanus elongatus, Centropages typicus, Arcatia longiremis, Calamus finmarchicus, Paracalanus parvus, Acartia spp., A. clausi, and Paracalanus spp. Arcatia longiremis recorded the highest density (5068.18 org/L), while Boectella orientalis had the lowest density (500.00 org/L). Spatial distribution showed that station 1 recorded the highest density (1295.45 org/L), whereas stations 3 and 4 recorded the lowest densities (954.55 org/L). Seasonal variation revealed higher copepod abundance during the dry season, with December recording the highest abundance (284 individuals), while no copepods were recorded in June and July. Diversity indices indicated that Calanidae had the highest species richness (2.08±0.15), Arcatidae recorded the highest Shannon-Wiener diversity index (0.90±0.05), while Candaciidae showed the highest dominance index (0.36±0.13). The study demonstrated that copepod abundance and diversity in Okpoka Creek were strongly influenced by seasonal and environmental conditions.

Keywords

ZooplanktonCyclopidaeEstuarine ecologyOkpoka CreekAquatic biodiversity

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