Checklist of Macroinvertebrates of Ebonyi River Southeastern, Nigeria

The composition, abundance and diversity of macroinvertebrates in Ada Obollo-Etiti, Ebonyi River, Nigeria were studied from May to July 2017, to investigate the water health condition. Sampling was done in three stations, using a plankton-net with mesh size of 500µm and scoop net for bottom dwellers. A total of 684 macroinvertebrates of 14 families, 18 species belonging to the taxonomic group order of Odonata, Ephemeroptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Trichoptera, Diptera, Plecoptera, Amphipoda and Decapoda were encountered. However, Ephemeroptera was the most abundant 37.43%, preceded by Plecoptera (11.70%), Hemiptera (11.27%), Coleoptera (9.65%), Decapoda (2.19%), Trichoptera (0.44%), Diptera (0.30%) and Amphipoda (0.115%). However, Odonata (26.90%) was the most diverse, occupying 3 in 14 families encountered. Observed data from stations indicated that there was higher number of macroinvertebrates (65.65%) in station 2, while station 1 and 3 had (28.68%) and (10.96%), respectively. Monthly records indicated highest encounters in May (49.85%) and the least in July (20.32%). Physico-chemical parameters indicated pH of station (1) 1.32, (2) 0.93 and (3) 0.75, respectively, and temperatures measured in May (32.7^oC) and July (28.97^oC). Water current had stronger positive relationship with the abundance of Hemiptera (r = 0.76, p < 0.05), Plecoptera (r = 0.73, p < 0.05) and Coleoptera (r = 0.84, p < 0.01) suggesting that, water current contributed positively to the distribution and abundance of Hemiptera, Plecoptera and Coleoptera in the sample area.