ABSTRACT
An experiment on water quality
parameters and the abundance of benthos in UNICAL community fish farm ponds was
carried out for a period of 90 days from calabar. The study was conducted
considering three treatment ponds such as T1 (small sized), T2 (medium sized)
and T3 (large sized) and each has three replications. Different water quality
parameters were measured at 15 days interval. The ranges of water temperature were 24 to 34 °C, transparency 27 to 36 cm, dissolved
oxygen 3.75 to 4.97
mgl-1, pH 6.16 to 7.10, total alkalinity 28 to 122 mgl-1, chlorophyll-a 4.76 to 460.77 µgl-1, ammonia-
nitrogen 0.01 to 0.70 mgl-1,
phosphate-phosphorus 0.12 to 0.99 mgl-1, nitrite-nitrogen 0.00 to 0.26 mgl-1 and
nitrate-nitrogen 0.01 to 0.45 mgl-1 were found among three treatments.
Significantly varied values of transparency, total alkalinity and
nitrate-nitrogen were observed while other parameters showed non- significant
among three treatments. Four groups of benthos i.e. Oligochaeta, Chironomidae,
Mollusca and Unidentified were distinguished during the study period.
Oligochaeta was dominant among different groups of benthos. The mean (±SD)
values of total benthos were 526.75±76.30, 498.77±68.72 and 553.09±61.53 in T1,
T2 and T3 respectively. The highest total benthos abundance was recorded in T3
due to its comparatively better
water quality. The research findings
will be beneficial for the pond owners
for the improvement of homestead fish production.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Aquaculture
is currently attracting much attention as an alternative to capture fisheries
(Lovell, 1991). A growing amount of fish bought at the market place is coming
from fish farms. As in many other intensive farming systems, the use of
anti-microbial compounds in aquaculture to prevent or treat fish diseases is
not unusual and sometimes necessary (Meyer, 1991; Schlotfeldt and Alderman,
1995). Following the discovery of the growth-promoting and disease-fighting
capabilities of antibiotics, fish farmers, and livestock producers began to use
drugs in animal feeds. Antibiotics have been used to treat humans as well as animals
such as domestic animals, livestock, and aquatic animals such as fish for many
years to prevent or cure infections among the stock population (Horinek, 2009).
The
major route of transmission of resistant
micro-organisms from animals to humans is through
the food chain, and micro-organisms
also have the potential to be resistant
to many types of antibiotics (Akinbowale et
al., 2006). Pathogenic bacteria in some
species of fish have been linked to bacteria in
humans and it is believed that there should be a concern for safety of humans
(Boinpally and Jiang, 2007).
The
physico-chemical and biological characteristics of water play a significant
role in overall productivity of a water body as well as the biology of the
cultured organisms. The culture of different species under different
environments always depends on optimum water quality [8]. Survival, health
and adequate growth
of cultured species
also depend on good water quality [4]. Thus, the knowledge of water
quality parameters of the water bodies provides an important tool for
successful production of aquatic organisms in
aquaculture.
The
abiotic environment of the water body directly influences the distribution,
population density and diversity of the macro benthic community. Benthic organisms
are rich in amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, etc; can alone
provide a complete diet for many bottom feeding fishes [25]. It not only serves as an
important food item for fishes, but also considered as an indicator of
productivity of a water body [7]. In scientific culture and management of
fisheries resources, there is a great need of understanding regarding benthic
fauna as they play a vital role in regulating the aquatic environment.
The ponds located in north-west region
of Nigeria, especially in University of
calabar is mainly used for traditional fish culture of carps, pangus and
tilapia etc [11].
It also serves domestic purposes like personal
hygiene, washing of clothes, dishes
and household materials, bathing of cattle
etc. Moreover, these ponds contain heavy silt particles and domestic wastes and
decomposed organic toxic
plastic materials from the neighboring houses. Poor performance of the fish growth and high rate of mortality occurs during
culture period sometimes. Since benthos is suitable indicator for better water
quality as well as increases the survival and growth of aquatic organism thus
estimation of benthos abundance along with various water quality parameters of
those homestead ponds are essential.
In
Nigeria, several researches regarding water quality parameters of ponds and benthos abundance have been carried out such as monthly variation of
plankton in relation to physico-chemical properties of water [18], effects
of water quality on pond ecology and growth performances of fishes [13, 25, 19],
depth wise abundance of benthic fauna [10], study of different benthic
organisms including its biology, structure and
life cycle [23, 6, 1]. Most of these
researches were performed around greater Mymensingh
district in this country. However,
this experiment was conducted to address the actual scenario of homestead ponds
of University of calabar of Nigeria.
The nutrients
status of both soil and water plays a significant role in the growth and
abundance of aquatic organisms, especially plankton and benthos. The chemical
properties (nutrients status) have some growth promoting effect on the various
species of benthos fauna (Habib et al., 1984). On the other hand, nutrient
status of soil depends on the type of soil texture. In soil science, the USDA
(Donahue et al., 1990) defines twelve major soil textural classes. Loam soils
generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils. However, there is
no study on the effects of bottom soil textural types on growth and abundance
of benthic fauna so far. Productivity of benthos as well as productivity of
water body depends on the kind of textural types of pond bottom-soil along with
limnological and ecological conditions. On the other hand, water depth is
another important factor that control light intensity, dissolved oxygen,
benthic fauna etc. in a water body. In the present study, it was evaluated the
effects of bottom soil textural types and water depth on abundance of
macrozoobenthos in aquaculture pond.
Livestock
and poultry production in Nigeria have not been able to satisfy the demand for
quality animal proteins. Recent epidemics of bird flu that ravaged poultry
industry discouraged many farmers from poultry keeping. Fish production is now
becoming popular. This is associated with increased demand for fish and fish
products in a country like Nigeria with a rapidly growing population (FAO,
2004). Besides, fish production is generally carried out on a small-scale, backyard
and practiced by a wide variety of individuals both on part-time and full-time
basis. Most part-time fish producers are untrained and do not adopt good
management practices and bio-security measures (Amao et al., 2006).
Poor
fish farm practices predispose fish to infection. Most farmers realize that
infection in fish ponds can be suppressed by regular antibiotic use and is done
without veterinary supervision (FAO/WHO, 2003). Even when used by animal health
personnel there is limited training of these personnel in chemotherapy and
pharmaceutics in fish, particularly those kept under intensive management.
Due to the
risks associated with indiscriminate use of antibiotic, it is necessary to
carry out research to determine the presence of antibiotic residues in fish
from commercial fish farms, and also the level of awareness of the populace on
the deleterious effects of antibiotic residues (Olatoye and Basiru, 2013).
Attention is urgently needed on aquaculture drug use because it is probable
that antibiotic selection pressure in aquaculture systems is intensifying (Neu,
1992). Furthermore, there is no government regulation on the use of drugs in
fish in Nigeria. There also appears to be no record in the available literature
on the extent of use of antibiotics and occurrence of residue in farmed fish in
Kaduna State, Nigeria.
The aim
of the study was to assess the Diversity and abundance of benthos organism in
unical community fish farm, Nigeria.
The
specific objectives were to:
1.
To
determine the monthly changes of various water quality parameters in different
water bodies.
2.
To
identify and quantify different groups of benthos.
3.
To
study the response of fishes to the physico-chemical and biological parameters
of water.
1.
What
is the monthly changes of various water quality parameters in different water bodies.
2.
What
are the groups of benthos in the
fish farm.
What is the response of fishes to the physico-chemical
and biological parameters of water================================================================
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