Zooplankton Distributions, Relative Abundance and Seasonal Variation Ol‘ Bodna River In Kvvali Area Council, Abuja.

Rivers are vital and vulnerable freshwater systems that are critical for the sustenance of all lives. One of the resourceful Rivers in Kwali Council is River Bodna. This River zooplankton species distribution, relative abundance and seasonal variation were investigated for information to ascertain effects of human activities on the biological properties of the River to enhance their conservation and management. The zooplankton samples were collected with standard zooplankton net of 50pm mesh size by horizontal trawling in the River sampling stations. Collected samples were poured into a zooplankton bottle to the level of 100ml and one ml of 4% formalin was added. 10ml of water sample was used to examined the zooplankton in a counting chamber viewed with Olympus Biological Microscope. Descriptive analysis, and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the Zooplankton species distribution, relative abundance and seasonal variation in sampled stations. The results showed three major families and 14 species of zooplankton and they are Rotifera with Brachionus species, Trichocera species, Lecane species, Asplanchna species and Pytgra species. Clcidocera with Bosmina species, Moinci species, Nauplii species and Diaphanosoma species. Copepoda with Cyclopoid copepods and Copepodiles. The family Rotifera with the species Brahioiuis calyciflorus has the highest abundance of 21.2%. The seasonal variation showed higher percentage of zooplankton of 73.4% in the wet season and was lower with 26.6% in the dry season. Variations occurred from station to station with 20%, 18% and 0% across the stations respectively in Cyclopoid copepods species. The findings of this study will be helpful to the community for conservation and management of sustainability of live food for the biological composition of the Bodna River.