Diversity and abundance of potential ornamental fish species in lake Nabugabo ecosystem.

Abstract

The study was carried out in October 2020 and documented the potential ornamental fish species from samples collected from Lake Nabugabo ecosystem, determining their composition, relative abundances and morphological characteristics that attribute to being a potential ornamental fish. These were stocked in the Aquarium facility in the basement of the new building at the Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries Science, Makerere University and identified using special guides. Physical-chemical water parameters were measured at the different sampling points in the field to know whether the water parameters were suitable for the fish species in captivity. The water parameters in the aquarium facility were also measured to know if they were suitable for the survival of the fish in captivity. Some fish samples died due to stress during the course of transportation from Lake Nabugabo to the Aquarium facility. Others died after reaching the Aquarium facility due to failure to acclimatize to the environmental conditions in the aquarium tanks, the fish samples that survived were placed in separate tanks according to the species and studied separately. Diversity and relative abundances of the surviving fish were determined using the Shannon-Weiner’s diversity index (H). Twelve fish species were identified from the collected samples, stocked in the aquarium facility and their morphological characteristics described, these included; Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae, Tilapia zilli, Oreochromis esculentus, Oreochromis niloticus, Oreochromis varibilis ,Schilbe mystus, Ctenopoma murei, Synodontis victoriae, Marcusenius, Barbus grahmi, Neocromis and Petrocephalus degeni. Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae were the most relatively abundant. Ctenopoma murei was the least relatively abundant. Four species have been identified as potential aquarium species candidates i.e Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae, Neocromis, Synodontis victoriae and Ctenopoma murei as they are hardy pending breeding but Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae has been known to breed in captivity.