Food habits, sexual dimorphism and sex ratio of three Palaemonid prawns of the Nun River, Niger Delta, Nigeria
The food habits, sex ratio and differences of three freshwater prawns ? Macrobrachium vollenhovenii, M. macrobrachion and M. felicinum from Nun River, Niger Delta were studied. It was found that although the prawns had an omnivorous diet feeding on a wide range of organisms including plants, detritus, insect parts, phytoplankton and zooplankton the food habits indicate a tendency towards a plant-based (herbivorous) diet. The adult prawns exhibit sexual dimorphism with males being larger than females; however the males were fewer in number than the females with mean ratios of 1:2.79, 1:1.58 and 1:9.12 for M. vollenhovenii, M. macrobrachion and M. felicinum. Sexual dimorphism exists in the species and brood-stock are available in the Nun River system of the Niger Delta region.
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | conference_item biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Fisheries Society of Nigeria
2010
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| Subjects: | Ecology, Macrobrachium vollenhovenii, Macrobrachium macrobrachium, Macrobrachium felicinum, Nigeria, Nun, R., freshwater environment, Feeding behaviour, Feeding experiments, Aquaculture, Sexual dimorphism, Prawn culture, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1834/38186 |
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| Summary: | The food habits, sex ratio and differences of three freshwater prawns ? Macrobrachium vollenhovenii, M. macrobrachion and M. felicinum from Nun River, Niger Delta were studied. It was found that although the prawns had an omnivorous diet feeding on a wide range of organisms including plants, detritus, insect parts, phytoplankton and zooplankton the food habits indicate a tendency towards a plant-based (herbivorous) diet. The adult prawns exhibit sexual dimorphism with males being larger than females; however the males were fewer in number than the females with mean ratios of 1:2.79, 1:1.58 and 1:9.12 for M. vollenhovenii, M. macrobrachion and M. felicinum. Sexual dimorphism exists in the species and brood-stock are available in the Nun River system of the Niger Delta region. |
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