~ 472 ~ International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies 2018; 6(2): 472-481 E-ISSN: 2347-5129 P-ISSN: 2394-0506 (ICV-Poland) Impact Value: 5.62 (GIF) Impact Factor: 0.549 IJFAS 2018; 6(2): 472-481 © 2018 IJFAS www.fisheriesjournal.com Received: 21-01-2018 Accepted: 22-02-2018 Mathieu Kobenan Kra Laboratoire d’Environnement et de Biologie Aquatique (LEBA), UFR- Sciences et Gestion de l’Environnement (SGE), Universite Nangui Abrogoua (UNA), 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, Côte d’Ivoire Idrissa Adama Camara Laboratoire d’Environnement et de Biologie Aquatique (LEBA), UFR- Sciences et Gestion de l’Environnement (SGE), Universite Nangui Abrogoua (UNA), 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, Côte d’Ivoire Edia Oi Edia Laboratoire d’Environnement et de Biologie Aquatique (LEBA), UFR- Sciences et Gestion de l’Environnement (SGE), Universite Nangui Abrogoua (UNA), 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, Côte d’Ivoire Mexmin Koffi Konan Laboratoire d’Environnement et de Biologie Aquatique (LEBA), UFR- Sciences et Gestion de l’Environnement (SGE), Universite Nangui Abrogoua (UNA), 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, Côte d’Ivoire Dramane Diomande Laboratoire d’Environnement et de Biologie Aquatique (LEBA), UFR- Sciences et Gestion de l’Environnement (SGE), Universite Nangui Abrogoua (UNA), 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, Côte d’Ivoire Allassane Ouattara Laboratoire d’Environnement et de Biologie Aquatique (LEBA), UFR- Sciences et Gestion de l’Environnement (SGE), Universite Nangui Abrogoua (UNA), 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, Côte d’Ivoire Correspondence Mathieu Kobenan Kra Laboratoire d’Environnement et de Biologie Aquatique (LEBA), UFR- Sciences et Gestion de l’Environnement (SGE), Universite Nangui Abrogoua (UNA), 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, Côte d’Ivoire Qualitative analysis of aquatic macroinvertebrates in lower comoe river (Côte d’Ivoire) Mathieu Kobenan Kra, Idrissa Adama Camara, Edia Oi Edia, Mexmin Koffi Konan, Dramane Diomande and Allassane Ouattara Abstract This paper presents a study on aquatic macroinvertebrate communities in lower Comoe river belonging to Grand Bassam wetland (Côte d’Ivoire). Six sites (C1-C6) were sampled during eight campaigns from June 2014 to May 2017. At each site macroinvertebrates were collected using a Van Veen grab and kick- net (25 x 20 cm, 500 µm mesh size). Environmental variables were recorded also. Water was collected from each sampling site for nutrient (phosphorus, nitrate) analysis in laboratory. A total of 97 macroinvertebrate taxa belonging to 49 families, 15 orders and 08 classes were identified in the lower Comoe river. Insecta was the most representative class (70 taxa) followed by Gastropoda (14 taxa). The order of Coleoptera was the most diversified (20 taxa) followed by Odonata (15 taxa). The Shannon- Weawer index varied between 0.66 and 2.82 and the Pielou evenness index between 0.30 and 0.96. The highest values of the rarefied richness was observed in the C1 (06) and C2 (6.45) sites, which were less subject to the different anthropogenic pressures, whereas the lowest values were recorded in C5 (2.20), a site under pressure from pig farming and organic fertilizers. The Sorensen Similarity index varied from 35.44% to 43.37% and was higher between C1 and C2, which are very close sites. The rare taxa were the most numerous at the different sites. Association of the different indices shown that C1, located upriver is less impacted and C5 in downriver the most impacted site. Among the environmental variables, only phosphorus is significantly higher in C5 than in other sites. The results showed that macroinvertebrates were more correlated with temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, phosphorus, nitrate and pH. Keywords: aquatic macroinvertebrates, community structure, grand-bassam wetland, comoe river, Côte d’Ivoire 1. Introduction Aquatic macroinvertebrates are commonly used to assess the overall health status of aquatic ecosystems because of their sedentary life style, varied life cycle, wide diversity and variable tolerance to pollution and habitat degradation [1-4] . As a result, studies on their inventory and ecology are of paramount importance in the understanding of the functioning and management of natural systems on the one hand and in the assessment of the ecological health status of waterbodies on the other hand [5] . In addition, sampling of macroinvertebrates requires little effort and produces few adverse effects on the biotope [1, 6] . The Comoe watershed is a transboundary basin between three countries (Burkina Faso, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire). In the southern part of Côte d'Ivoire, this watershed has many industrial plantations (bananas, palm trees, pineapples…) that require the use of fertilizers and pesticides [7] . According to these authors, plantations are generally located near waterbodies. These factors make the water resources of this area vulnerable to pollution. One of the main causes of degradation of the quality of aquatic ecosystems is the intensification of agricultural practices [6, 8] . Studies have shown that waterbodies are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world especially those in the tropics [9, 10] . Indeed, according to Barbour et al. (1999) [11] , estimates of the biodiversity loss of tropical waterbodies are alarming. In order to achieve a synthetic and comprehensive verification of the extent of degradation of water quality, it is necessary to opt for biological monitoring which, according to Dion (2009) [12] , is recognized as an essential component of monitoring programs of water quality. Unfortunately, except for the work of Sangaré (1991) [13] on aquatic macroinvertebrates associated with the roots of