Morphometric and meristic analysis of Labeo coubie in Esa-Odo water reservoir, Esa-Odo, Osun state Nigeria

One of the common species of family Cyprinidae found in Nigeria and West Africa is Labeo coubie. They are of commercial importance in West Africa. This study embarked on the assessment of the length- weight relationship, condition factor, morphometrics and meristic characteristics of L. coubie from Esa-Odo water reservoir, Esa-Odo, Osun State Nigeria. A total of 135 (65 males and 70 females) individual L. coubie collected from fishermen were subjected to morphometric and meristic analysis. Results showed 4.90, 5.46 and 5.24 as the b value for male, female and combined sexes respectively, describing positive allometric growth for all the fish (male, female and combined sexes). The mean condition factors for male, female and combined sexes were 0.75 ± 0.01, 0.71 ± 0.02 and 0.72 ± 0.01 indicating suboptimal condition. The correlation coefficient (R) for male, female and combined sexes were 0.92, 0.91 and 0.92 respectively showing positive relationship between the weight and total length of the fish. All morphometric traits showed statistically significant positive correlation (p ≤ 0.05) with total length. This study also elucidated a fin formular of L. coubie as D11, A6-7, P 12-15 and V8-9. This study presents base line information needed for sustainable exploitation, management and conservation of the fish (L. coubie).