Condition Factor of Four Cichlid Species of a Man-made Lake in Imo State, Southeastern Nigeria

The condition factors of four cichlid species, namely Chromidotilapia guntheri, Tilapia cabrae, T. mariae and T. zilli from a man-made lake were studied over a period of 12 months (April 1997 to March 1998). Mean condition factor for C. guntheri was 4.58±1.53, while it was 5.27±0.56, 5.38±0.56 and 4.3±0.19 for T. cabrae, T. mariae and T. zilli,, respectively. There was a significant difference (t=1.85, p=0.05) in the mean condition factor of male and female C. guntheri, while in T. cabrae, T. mariae and T. zilli, there was not a significant difference in the condition factors of males and females. It was observed that the dry season condition factors of C. guntheri and T. mariae were higher than the wet season values, while in T. zilli, the reverse was the case with higher condition values recorded in the wet season. And there was not a significant difference between the condition factors of dry and wet seasons in T. cabrae. The general trend in the condition factors for length classes of C. guntheri, T. cabrae and T. mariae, is that relatively lower condition factors were recorded for relatively higher lengths of fish while relatively higher condition factors were recorded for relatively lower lengths of fish.