Author(s):

Oyediran Ajiboye Gabriel, Ebeniro Lawrence Azubuike, Ayodele Omotade Paul, Olaoti Khalid Sayfullah and Nwoga Peter Tochukwu

Abstract: A study on the abundance, distribution and diversity of macro benthic invertebrates of Ikwo River, Ishiagu, South-Eastern Nigeria was conducted from January to December, 2014 in five sampling stations along the river to evaluate the water quality of the river. A total of 1381 macro benthic invertebrate individuals from seventeen (17) taxa were recovered. Station 5 recorded the highest number with 12 taxa while the abundance of individuals were highest at station 3 with 38.02%, followed by station 5 with 29.25% and the least being station 1 with 8.69%. The most abundant and dominant species encountered was Melanoides tuberculata, which was distributed in all the stations, accounting for 93.8%, followed by Lumbricus rubellus and Chironomus sp accounting for 1.1% each; while every other species collected were each less than 1% of the total individuals. The Shannon-Wiener’s diversity index indicated a maximum of 2.47 at station 5 (with less anthropogenic activities) compared to stations 3 and 2 with a minimum Shannon-Wiener mean value of 0.00 and 0.45 respectively (with lots of anthropogenic activities). The variations in taxa and number of individuals among stations were not significantly different (P>0.05). Correlation analysis showed that there was a significant different in the species abundance between the dry season and wet season. The low diversity, abundance and distribution recorded were indicators of a poor water quality in Ikwo River. Hence, there should be strict measures in regulating the discharges with particular emphasis on acid mine drainage (AMD) from the mining operations that constituted pollution in the water body

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