The Fecundity of Macrobrachium macrobrachion (Herklots, 1851) from Luubara Creek Ogoni Land, Niger Delta, Nigeria

The fecundity of Macrobrachium macrobrachion from Luubara creek in Ogoni land axis of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria was studied for a period of two years (January, 2006 - December, 2007). A total of 934 berried female shrimp were examined. The results show that the number of eggs ranged from 180 to 5, 800. The mean number of eggs per female was 1, 403. The eggs were spherical in shape; on the long axis the egg diameter ranged from 0.60 to 0.78 mm with a mean of 0.68mm while on the short axis, the egg diameter ranged from 0.40 to 0.59 mm with a mean of 0.48mm. There was a positive relationship between carapace length, total weight and the number of eggs: Y = 4207.9-3666x and r = 0.9737, Y = 0.4224-42244x and r = 0.9721, Y = 3666.11+2483.9x and r = 0.3736, Y = 500-0.3794.11x and r = 0.97372, y = 250-0.03794.0x and r = 0.9843 and Y = 333 + 674.71x and r = 0.3736. There was high correlation between female weight and the number of eggs. The range of absolute fecundity observed in this study was 180-5, 800 eggs and the mean number of eggs per female were 1403. A strong correlation exists between the number of eggs and total length of berried females (r = 0.969). Fecundity increases with the carapace length. The number of eggs also increases with increase in weight and carapace length. Generally, fecundity was linear and a function of the body weight and carapace length.