Ephippion guttifer

Ephippion guttifer (Bennett); Prickly puffer Remarks: Other synonyms to this species include Ephippion guttiferum (Bennett), Ephippion maculatum (Bibron), Hemiconiatus guttifer (Bennett), Tetraodon guttifer (Bennett), and Tetrodon guttifer (Bennett). Ephippion guttifer was an occasional catch in Badagry, Epe, and Ikorodu during the study. This species is distributed across marine and brackish waters from Mauritania to southern Angola. It is a blunt-headed fish with robust jaws. Its dorsal fin contains ten soft rays, while the anal fin has nine soft rays and lacks a spine. The body surface is pigmented and covered with distinct white spots. Comparison of fish diversity across localities in NLL.— Our field data revealed that fish diversity in NLL varied across sampling locations (Table 2). The Epe axis recorded the highest fish observations, with 1,152 individuals encompassing 32 species, whereas Badagry and Ikorodu showed relatively similar numbers of individuals, comprising 28 and 31 species respectively. High values of the Simpson Diversity Index, Shannon-Wiener, and Margalef indices (Table 2) suggest higher fish diversity levels in Epe, although these indices were not significantly different from those observed in Badagry and Ikorodu. Comparison of fish diversity in NLL with other fish diversities across West African Lagoon systems.— We examined fish diversity across different lagoons in West Africa (Table 3). The result indicates that species richness in NLL is highly distinct compared to other lagoon systems in West Africa (Table 3). The next speciose lagoon is Aghien Lagoon in Côte d’Ivoire with 80 species followed by 56 species in Winneba, Saltpond and Cape Coast lagoons in Ghana and 51 species in Lake Nokoué in Benin. Conservation Status.— The IUCN conservation status of the fish species from NLL was also presented in Table 1. The majority, totaling 91 species, are classified as Least Concern (LC), indicating they are not currently at significant risk of extinction. However, a notable portion (11 species) are categorized as Data Deficient (DD), highlighting insufficient data to assess their extinction risk accurately. Species classified as DD include Arius latiscutatus (Günther), Cynoglossus browni (Chabanaud), Lutjanus goreensis (Valenciennes), Lutjanus agennes (Bleeker), Lutjanus dentatus (Duméril), M. brucii, Chelon dumerili (Steindachner), Neochelon falcipinnis (Valenciennes), Liza grandisquamis (Valenciennes), Pegusa triophthalmus (Bleeker), Dagetichthys lusitanicus (de Brito Capello), and Microphis aculeatus (Kaup). Additionally, one species (P. senegalensis) is classified as Endangered, five species (F. margarita, Chrysichthys walkeri, Sardinella maderensis (Lowe), P. prayensis and P. quinquarius) are classified as Vulnerable (VU), five species (F. margaritella, C. senegalensis, Synodontis melanopterus (Boulenger), Galeoides decadactylus (Bloch), and Epinephelus aeneus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire) as Near Threatened (NT), indicating varying levels of threat. This underscores that, while many species are not at immediate risk, a significant subset is facing potential threats, warranting attention for conservation efforts.