Food and feeding habits of Clarias mossambicus from four areas in the Lake Victoria basin,East Africa |
| |
Authors: | Lucas Mwebaza-Ndawula |
| |
Institution: | (1) The Uganda Freshwater Fisheries Research Organization (UFFRO), P.O. Box 343, Jinja, Uganda;(2) Present address: Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Dar Es Salaam, P.O. Box 668, Zanzibar, Tanzania |
| |
Abstract: | Synopsis The food and feeding habits of Clarias mossambicus in four habitat types in the northern Lake Victoria basin were studied. The importance of certain food types to this species varies from area to area. In the lake, rivers and swamps, C. mossambicus fed mainly on fish, particularly Haplochromis species. In the sewage ponds, Crustacea and insects were the main food items. The extent of ingestion by C. mossambicus of a given food type presumably reflects the availability and abundance of the food in the habitat. This constitutes a shift in the food habits which is of vital importance in this migratory fish. By employing several feeding methods, i.e. hunting, bottom feeding, surface feeding and filter feeding, C. mossambicus exploits a broad spectrum of food resources in the various habitats.Many modern workers consider Clarias mossambicus conspecific with C. gariepinus and a junior synonym of the latter (Editor) |
| |
Keywords: | Pisces Haplochromis Frequency occurrence Dominance Shift Sewage ponds Clariidae |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|