Fish species abundance and distribution in The Gambia estuary

Darboe4 RESULTSThe area covered by this study extends from the mouth of the Gambia estuary toabout 250 km inland. In this stretch of estuary, about 43 seining operations wereconducted. Positions of the sampling stations are given in Figure 2 in the previoussection.4.1 Environmental parameters4.1.1 Water temperatureWater temperature is known to impact on live functions of fish even in the tropics.During all the five surveys and throughout the estuary, surface water temperatures didnot differ much from bottom values of the parameter. In all the surveys, values rangedbetween 32.0°C and 23.3°C with a mean of 29.5°C ± 0.9. Bottom temperature rangedfrom between 30.0°C and 23.1°C with a mean of 26.85°C.During Survey 2, 2–12 June 2001, temperature readings were taken between stations 1and 43 (Chitabong bolong and Deer Island).Surface temperatures throughout this survey ranged from between 32.2°C and 26.6°Cwith a mean value of 29.12°C ± 0.74°C. The highest temperature was recorded at themouth of Sofanyama creek (station 35) in the upper estuary and the lowest at DogIsland in the lower estuary. Bottom temperatures, the mean of which do not differmarkedly from surface temperatures, ranged between 29.8°C and 24.6°C in the upperestuary. These were recorded at Elephant Island and Dog Island respectively. On thewhole, the mean bottom temperature recorded during the survey was 28.69°C ±0.72°C .The low bottom temperature at Dog Island could be attributed to theconsiderable dept at that station (Figure 3) while Sofanyama’s high surfacetemperature could be attributed to the influx of tributary water from the continent.Sharper temperature oscillations were observed during the mission of 16 – 25September 2001 than in the previous surveys (between 31°C and 23.3°C). The highesttemperature was recorded at the surface at the confluence of Bintang bolong tributarywith the main channel while the lowest was recorded at Elephant point (station 32).The mean of the surface temperatures between Chitabong and Papa Island was 29.5°C± 0.91°C. With the exception of the third survey, temperature readings along theestuary indicate a general slight upstream increase characterised by slight oscillations(Figure 3).UNU – Fisheries Training Programme 11