Fin-fishes in Yorùbá natural healing practices from southwest Nigeria

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.