SOME ASPECTS OF THE BIOLOGY OF Rana esculenta FROM MAKURDI, NIGERIA

S.G SOLOMON, V.T. OKOMODA AND V. IORCHIHI
Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria
*Tel: +2347037275891 *e-mail: solagabriel@yahoo.co.uk
 

Frogs are eaten in many countries of Asia, Africa and Latin American; Some of this countries have engaged in the commercial trade of frogs and frogs product, supplying market in the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA) (Lannoo et al., 1994; Mohneke, 2011). While frog farming plays an increasing role in meeting the global demands for frogs products in other parts of the world, Nigerians however obtain frogs mainly from the wild to satisfy local and international demands. Generally, the exploitation of wild frogs to sustain trade (mainly Fejervarya cancrivora and Limnonectes macrodon) has been described by  experts as far from sustainable (Mohneke, 2011; Bickford pers ,comm. 2010; Laufer et al 2008), hence the need to intensify effort to attempt culture in captivity. Understand the biology of this animal is a key to culturing them in captivity which is the focus of this study. A total of 115 Rana esculenta were sampled from puddles, with their Morphometrics data recorded. Sex ratio of 2:1 were observed for female to males. Female frogs were found to be bigger than the males with maximum length of 23.29cm and weight of 120.1g. GSI was also higher in female (3.45) compared with male (0.31). However male were observed to be in better condition (K=1.03) compared to the females (K=0.91) High correlation where observed between most of the morphometric parameters measured during the study for both male and female. Female frog were observed to have a positive allometric growth while male frog s had negative allometric growth. More detail study on the reproductive biology of frog is needed to better understand their culture potential in captivity.