Length-weight  relationship, condition factor, morphometric and meristic characteristics of Ctenopoma kingsleyae from Esa-Odo Reservoir, Nigeria.

Anabantid, Ctenopoma kingsleyae is a commercially important fish being captured as a food and aquarium fish. Limited literature is available on the biology of the fish. Therefore, this study investigated the length-weight relationship, condition factor, morphometric and meristic characteristics of C. kingsleyae from Esa-Odo water Reservoir, Nigeria. Fish collected (n = 90) from fishermen were subjected to morphometric measurements to the nearest length (0.1cm) and weight (0.1g) and meristic counts were recorded in the laboratory. Results revealed the fin formula of C. kingsleyae was D₁xvii, D₂ 9-11, A₁ ix, A₂ 10-11, P 11-13, vi/5, TLr 25-27. The b value for males, females and combined sexes were 10.014, 12.7 and 12.81 respectively, indicating positive allometric growth for all the samples. The mean condition factors, 1.95±0.02, 2.03±0.02 and 2.00±0.01 were recorded for males, females and combined sexes respectively, implying that the fish are in good health condition. The correlation coefficient (R) of 0.8925, 0.9175 and 0.9507 were recorded for males, females and combined sexes respectively, revealing a positive relationship between the weight and total length of the fish. Positive correlations were observed between the total length and each of the other morphological characteristics of the fish (p ≤ 0.05). Data generated from this study can form baseline information for the conservation, production and management of C. kingsleyae reservoirs in Nigeria.