Determination of the distribution and concentration of some heavy metals between Male and Female fish sexes of Bagrus bayad (Macropterus) in River Rima Sokoto, Nigeria

Abstract

The presence of heavy metals pollution in fresh water is known to disturb the balance of aquatic organisms and this has been noticed to manifest in the presence of irregularities in fish physiology as fish tend to contain some metals such as Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd and Cr which are responsible not only for the poor quality of water, but also for killing a number of organisms, human being inclusive. The knowledge of the level of contaminants in water bodies is of considerable importance because of its potential effect on fish and other top level predators that consume them, more especially humans. The study was carried out on the determination of the distribution and concentration of some heavy metals between Male and Female fish sexes of Bagrus bayad (Macropterus) in River Rima Sokoto Nigeria. It was forty (40) samples of Bagrus bayad specis that were obtained from River Rima in Sokoto for the study on monthly basis. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS 20.0 versions where T and F tests were adopted to check sex variability and mean monthly variation of the selected heavy metals. The result shows that bioaccumulation in relation to fish sex is not significant but with high concentration in female as 2.83 mg/l, while that of male is 2.41 mg/l. Awareness campaign, public enlighten programs and further research are highly recommended.