Population dynamics of <I>Mormyrus rume</I> (Valenciennes, 1847; Osteoglossiformes; Mormyridae) Of Ikere-Gorge, Iseyin, Oyo State, Nigeria

The structure of a fish population is determined by the equilibrium between growth, recruitment and total mortality. But, there is paucity of information on the growth and mortality of Mormyrus rume in Nigeria. Therefore this study is needful to determine its population parameters, with a view of evolving management strategies for its sustainable exploitation. Estimates of population parameters of Mormyrus rume were obtained from length-frequency data of 836 individuals collected monthly for a period of 24 months from January 2017 to December 2018. The estimated growth parameters were: asymptotic length (L∞) was 100.8cm; growth coefficient (K) was 0.62/year; growth performance (Ɵ) was 3.8; length at maturity (Lm) was 52.57cm; reproductive load (Lm/L∞) was 0.52 and optimum length (Lopt) was 65.10cm. Likewise, natural, fishing and total mortalities were 0.93, 1.46 and 2.39 respectively. The values of exploitation rate (0.61) and ratio of total mortality and growth coefficient (3.85) showed that Mormyrus rume is most exploited in Ikere-gorge. Therefore, appropriate fishing regulations should be enforced to regulate fishing gears and mesh size that will fish Mormyrus rume at sustainable level. Keywords: Recruitment, mortality, growth, exploitation, length