Morphological study of Sudanonautes africanus (Miline-Edwards, 1869) in three freshwater bodies of Ondo State, Nigeria.

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Abstract

Freshwater crabs are a cheap and important source of animal protein for human beings. They also serve as bio-indicators of ecosystem disruption and also conservation icons. Despite their importance, there are still some unresolved issues in their phylogenies. This study aimed to examine the morphological variations in freshwater crab, S. africanus from three different water bodies in South-west, Nigeria. Thirty samples were collected from each of the study locations morphological study using morphometrics and meristics characters. Morphometrics characters did not show variations in species of crabs, unlike meristic that showed variations in the episternum and abdominal segments of S. africanus. The study also revealed that the crabs exhibit a negative allometric growth (b<3). The condition factor revealed that the crabs are healthy (K>1).  Cluster diagram of the Canonical Variate analyses of the morphological parameters showed that there are no variations in the morphological characteristics of S. africanus. Cluster diagram of the meristic characters shows that there are little variations in the meristic characters of S. africanus in the three study locations.

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