Abstract

The fish fauna of Lekki lagoon in south-western part of Nigeria was studied from March 2006 to February 2008. Sampling was carried out once a month using different fishing gears and the market was visited to confirm the fish species diversity from the lagoon. A total of 16,960 specimens made up of juveniles and adults caught were identified and classified. They comprised of eighty-one species belonging to 40 families, 56 genera and 14 orders. Variation in the mesh of fishing gears used greatly influenced fish catch in the lagoon. The fish species encountered were of three ecological origin and seasonal occurrence in the Lekki Lagoon. There were eleven fishes of euryhaline origin which occurred mostly throughout the year, fifty-six fishes of freshwater origin and ten fishes of marine origin. The dominant fish species in the catches of the fisher folks between March 2006 and February 2008 were Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus, Chrysichthys filamentosus, Tilapia guineensis, Tilapia zillii, Gymnarchus niloticus, Mormynus rume, Elops lacerta, Liza falapinnis, Clarias agboyiensis, Polydactylus quadrifilis, Synodontis clarias and Cynolossus senegalensis. The high number of species (81) recorded for Lekki lagoon in this study confirms the fact that the lagoon is a transition zone between brackish and freshwater systems.

Key words: Ichytofauna, low brackish, fishing gears, Lekki lagoon.