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Research and Reviews : Journal of Veterinary Science and Technology Original Research

Foods of the False Upside-Down Catfish (Synodontis nigrita) from Otamiri River, Rivers State, Nigeria

  1. Chukwu K.O Department of Fisheries and Aquatic EnvironmentDepartment of Fisheries and Aquatic Environment, Rivers State University, Port Harcour
  2. Obi M Department of Fisheries and Aquatic EnvironmentDepartment of Fisheries and Aquatic Environment, Rivers State University, Port Harcour

Abstract

The false upside-down catfish (Synodontis nigrita) from Otamiri River was studied for its food choices in its natural environment by examining its stomach content. Samples of the species were studied using the frequency of occurrence, and number methods. The most important food item (Food Ranking) was determined by index of food significance (IFS). The IFS was estimated as a function of percentage number of food items in the stomach to number of same items in the fish’s stomach. The study revealed that S. nigrita stomach contained the following food items; Chlroplyceae (Tetradon caudata, Tetraton regulare, and Closterium gracile), Cynophyceae (Merismopodia elegans, Merismopodia elegams, Spirulina sp, and Raphidiopsis curruta) Xanthophyceae (Tribonema minus, Tribonema graciana, and Cyclotella viridana) and Bacillanophyceae. The most important food item as determined by IFS was Spirulina sp (21.28) while Tribonema graciana (6.02) was the least important food consumed. Regression analysis of length-weight data showed that the fish had a negative allometric growth (2.8148 ± 0.0664) and a negative allometric condition factor of 1.225 ± 0.066. An intercept of 0.5512 ± 0.0927 was recorded in the study and the correlation coefficient was 0.7619. The stomach content of the fish indicated that it feeds mainly on algae and as a result would do well on a medium to protein compounded feed if reared in captivity. This feed could be composed of both animal and plant materials, although the food extracted from the stomach of the fish was mainly plant materials. This is an indication that a feed composed of only plant materials could give a good result in captivity.

Keywords

References (11)

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