International Journal of Microbiology and Application 2019; 6(2): 19-22 http://www.openscienceonline.com/journal/ijma ISSN: 2381-442X (Print); ISSN: 2381-4438 (Online) Length-weight Relationship and Condition Factor of Protopterus annectens in River Rima Sokoto, Nigeria Hassan Faruk Maradun 1, * , Sani Shinkafi Nasiru 2 , Mubarak Ahmad 3 , Lawal Ibrahim Kasim 4 1 Aquaculture and Biotechnology Programme, National Institute for Freshwater Fisheries Research, New Bussa, Nigeria 2 Natinal Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services, ABU Zaria, Nigeria 3 Department of Fisheries Technology, Hassan Usman Katsina Polytechnic, Katsina, Nigeria 4 Department of Agricultural Education, Federal College of Education (Technical) Bichi, Kano, Nigeria Email address * Corresponding author To cite this article Hassan Faruk Maradun, Sani Shinkafi Nasiru, Mubarak Ahmad, Lawal Ibrahim Kasim. Length-weight Relationship and Condition Factor of Protopterus annectens in River Rima Sokoto, Nigeria. International Journal of Microbiology and Application. Vol. 6, No. 2, 2019, pp. 19-22. Received: July 22, 2019; Accepted: September 28, 2019; Published: October 17, 2019 Abstract Length-weight relationship of Protopterus annectens (Owen) in River Rima Sokoto Nigeria was conducted from August to October, 2007. A total of 80 fish samples of Protopterus annectens were used for the experiment and the samples were obtained from River Rima at Kwalkwalawa fish landing site along the main campus of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto. The samples were collected weekly from the fishermen from August to October, 2007 and taken to laboratory, examined fresh, while those that could not be treated immediately were preserved in a freezer until the next day. The total length of the fih sssamples in the experiment ranged from 21.8cm to 43.1cm with a mean value of 28.27±4.00 and weigh between 73.2g and 337.4g with a corresponding mean value of 135.46±44.89. The results obtained showed that the growth pattern of the fish was negatively allometric with b value of 1.5793. The condition factor (K) of the fish ranged from 0.35 to 0.95 with mean value of 0.62±0.16. There was strong correlation between the length and weight of the fish. The mean condition factor (K) of the fish was 0.62±0.16, an indication that the fish was in good condition. Keywords P. annectens, Length-weight Relationship, Condition Factor, Allometric Growth 1. Introduction Protopterus annectens commonly known as African Lungfish is the only specie of the family Protopteridae found in West African freshwaters. They possess a pair of true lungs which are used for breathing, seemingly in preference to their gills as when kept in a well oxygenated aquarium they will nevertheless surface occasionally to take a gulp of air [1]. They have elongated sub-cylindrical body which comes to point at the tail where the dorsal and anal fins meet. The paired fins or “limbs” are peculiar, long and slender. The body is covered with cycloid scales which are completely embedded in the slimy skin [1]. They have a rather snake-lie appearance and a strong taste [2] reported that the taste is such that it “is locally either highly appreciated or strongly disliked”. Although Protopterus species are not of significant commercial status, they are of great interest to conservationists due to their primitiveness [1]. They are also good candidates for the aquarium industry and biological control agents of the vector snails of schistosomes [2-3]. Protopterus annectens grows to a length of 1 metre, but the most common size seen in the markets are from 3300- 400mm in length as reported by [2]. The effective management of any fishery requires considerable knowledge of population parameters such as length-weight relationship. This relationship is very