LENGTH WEIGHT RELATIONSHIP, CONDITION FACTOR AND ALLOMETRIC GROWTH PATTERN OF Machrobranchium vollenhovenii CAUGHT IN WARRI RIVER, SOUTH EASTERN NIGERIA

Management parameters such as length-weight relationship, allometric growth patterns and condition factor are often required for the assessment of prawn stocks. Such assessment was conducive, also for the estimation of standing crop biomass in prawns when length-frequency data was accessible. Four hundred samples comprising 153 male and 247 female specimens of Machrobranchium vollenhovenii, caught in Warri River, were analyzed. Male specimens caught in this study were of smaller size range (43.0 to 179.0 mm) than the female specimens which had a higher size range (53.0 to 499.0 mm). Body weight range for female specimens 5.50 to 61.60 g was lower than those for males 6.80 to 86.70 g. A value of 1: 1.6 male to female sex ratio was established. Correlation co-efficience revealed a significant relationship (p<0.001) between total length and body weight for male specimens, where 'r' value was 0.644, whereas the female value which was not significant was 'r' =0.477). The condition factor (kn) was higher for male (0.64) than for female (0.48) specimens. A negative allometric growth pattern was observed in the specimens with a higher ?b’ value of 2.977 for males than females 2.609. Both values were less than 3, indicating that the specimens increased faster in length than their increase in weight. This study has enriched the data on this species, by providing information on parameters used for their effective management. Such information will have important implication towards their conservation, scientific culture and management procedures