title: Fin-fishes in Yorùbá natural healing practices from southwest Nigeria.
abstract: Natural healing treatment recipes from southwest Nigeria were examined for fin-fishes of ethnomedical importance. Fifteen families of 19 genera were identified with members found either in marine, fresh or brackish waters. Two thousand two hundred and eighty-five recipes were examined, 9.11% contained fin-fish or its derivative as component. Fertility/conception-related medical conditions have highest proportion of recipes (26.26%) with fish/derivatives as inputs. One hundred and forty-one recipes were examined for fertility-related conditions, the highest for any medical condition during this study. Clarias sp. (Clariidae) (catfish) recorded the highest rate of use (78.94%) followed by Malapterurus electricus (Malapteruridae) (electric catfish) with 5.26%. Fin-fishes/derivatives were observed to have both physical and spiritual activities in treatment preparations. Most of the fish species were in need of conservation interventions.
authors.affiliation: Hydrobiology and Fisheries Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. aa.sowunmi@mail.ui.edu.ng
authors.forename: Akindayo A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Sowunmi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002397:Catfishes; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004555:Electric Fish; D005298:Fertility; D005306:Fertilization; D005399:Fishes; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D016488:Medicine, African Traditional; D009549:Nigeria; D026443:Spiritual Therapies