A study on the growth of Pseudotolithus elongatus, Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus and Cynoglossus goreensis occurring in the Cross River Estuary

Samples of Pseudotolithus elongatus, Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus and Cynoglosus goreensis obtained from the Cross River Estuary (which is most probably the largest estuary water system along the coast of West Africa) between January 1980 and May 1981 were evaluated on basis of population dynamic analytical method postulated by Pauly (1980) for tropical fish stocks. Growth parameters were obtained for the fish species. Wherever possible, these results were compared to those obtained by Longhurst (1964d) and LeGuen (1971) in other West African waters. On the whole, results obtained in this study tend to indicate that the growth of the croaker, bagrid catfish and the sole in the Cross River Estuary is allometric, the third and fourth year-classes of P. elongatus the second and third class-year of C. nigrodigitatus and the fourth, fifth and sixth year classes of C. goreensis dominated in the age distribution of these fish species