Distribution model of shrimp species in Lake Nokoué, southern Benin, West Africa

What is it about?

The aim of this work was to evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution of shrimp species in the Lake Nokoué-Cotonou channel complex for an efficient management of the fishery. The results of one year from five stations (North, South, East, Central and West) of the complex revealed the following proportions: Penaeus notialis 73.68 %, Macrobrachium macrobrachion 13.81 %, Macrobrachium vollenhovenii 5.36 %, Penaeus monodon 2.68 %, Macrobrachium felicinum 2.20 % and Penaeus kerathurus 1.72 %, Macrobrachium zariquieyi 0.27 %, Macrobrachium equidens 0.27 %. The species M. zariquieyi and M. equidens never reported in Benin are found in Lake Nokoué. Spatially, Penaeus (Penaeus notialis) are more abundant in the west (Acadja concentration zone), while Macrobrachium (Macrobrachium macrobrachion) are more dominant in the east (near the Ouémé entrance) and north (near the Sô entrance) of the lake. Penaeus are strongly present in the lagoon complex from January to August while Macrobrachium are more abundant in Lake Nokoué from September to December. Spearman's correlation analysis revealed that increasing salinity, pH (Hydrogen Potential), transparency, and TDS (dissolved solids content) positively influenced the abundance of Penaeus (P. notialis) while increasing salinity, pH (hydrogen potential), transparency, and TDS (dissolved solids content) negatively influenced the abundance of Macrobrachium (M. macrobrachion) species at the 5% significance level.

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