Ecology and growth of the Shellfish, Tympanotonus fuscatus Linnaeus 1758 in the Mangrove Swamp of Warri River, Nigeria

The ecology and growth of the shellfish, Tympanotonus fuscatus was studied in a mangrove swamp of the Warri River, Abiotic and Biotic factors such as temperature, salinity, hydrogen ion concentration, nature of substrate, associated fauna and flora, micro – habitat were investigated. Weight/Length relationship of the shellfish was measured to determine the growth rate. Results showed a low range (27.5°C – 31.0°C) in temperature variation and high range (0.3% - 7.1%) in salinity variation, while pH values were between 6.5 – 7.8. The substrate consists of 50% peat particles which is due to the effect of the root system of the white mangrove, Avacennia Africana that is associated with the environment. Weight/Length relationship showed that the growth is negatively allometric which implies that the weight increases faster than the length.