The dietary habits of the clariid catfish,Heterobranchus bidorsalis(Geoffroy St. Hilaire 1809) in Owena Reservoir, Southwestern Nigeria

摘要

The dietary habits of the giant African clariid catfish,Heterobranchus bidorsalis(Geoffroy St. Hilaire 1809) inhabiting Owena Reservoir (Southwestern Nigeria) were investigated. Stomach content analyses established that it had an euryphagous diet. The diet comprised mainly plankton, insects, fish and detritus although, plant parts, benthic invertebrates and tadpoles were consumed. Detritus was very prominent accounting for between 68.1#x2013;74.5 occurrence and 13.9#x2013;19.6 volume in all sizes of fish examined, which indicated that it was a benthic feeder.