Premium
Food and feeding habits of the A frican catfish C larias gariepinus ( B urchell, 1822) ( P isces: C lariidae) in L ake K oka, E thiopia
Author(s) -
Dadebo Elias,
Aemro Degsera,
TekleGiorgis Yosef
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
african journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1365-2028
pISSN - 0141-6707
DOI - 10.1111/aje.12146
Subject(s) - clarias gariepinus , detritus , zooplankton , catfish , macrophyte , fishery , biology , omnivore , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology , predation
The food and feeding habits of C larias gariepinus ( B urchell, 1822) were studied in L ake K oka, E thiopia, in M ay 2011 (dry month) and S eptember 2011 (wet month). Three hundred and thirty eight nonempty stomach samples were analysed using frequency of occurrence and volumetric methods of analysis. Detritus, insects, macrophytes, zooplankton and fish were the dominant food categories by occurrence, and they occurred in 79.6%, 63.6%, 63.0%, 56.2% and 15.4% of the stomachs, respectively. Volumetrically, the above food items comprised 24.3%, 14.1%, 14.5%, 19.3% and 21.8% of the total volume of food categories. Phytoplankton and gastropods were of low importance, and they occurred in 28.7% and 8.6% of the stomachs, respectively. Their volumetric contributions were 3.2% and 2.8% of the total volume of food categories. During the dry month, fish, zooplankton, insects and detritus were important food categories, while during the wet month detritus, macrophytes, insects and gastropods were important. Smaller catfish diets were dominated by detritus, macrophytes and insects, whereas larger catfish shifted to fish and zooplankton. Based on the results, C . gariepinus was found to be omnivorous in its feeding habits in L ake K oka.