The Food and Feeding Habits of Fishes of a Coastal Nigeria River by Blessing J. Oribhabor, Aniekan E. Akpan and Gift S. David, Scientific Research Journal (Scirj), Volume VII, Issue IX, September 2019 Edition

Scirj Volume VII, Issue IX, September 2019 Edition
ISSN: 2201-2796

The Food and Feeding Habits of Fishes of a Coastal Nigeria River

Blessing J. Oribhabor, Aniekan E. Akpan and Gift S. David

Abstract: The food and feeding habits of fish community of Qua Iboe River in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria was studied for eight mouths (January-August, 2009). The total number of fish examined was two hundred and twenty-one (221) out of which one hundred and seventy-seven (80.1%) had food while forty-four (19.9%) specimens were empty stomach. A total of 51 (23.1%) individuals had full stomachs while 72 (32.6%), 33 (14.9%) and 21 (9.5%) were ¾, ½ and ¼ full respectively. The data shows that, the food items consumed by these fish species covered a wide feeding range. Analysis of the stomach contents reveal algae, macrophytes (plants), shrimps, insects, fish, fish parts, sand, mud, unidentified plant matter, unidentified animal matter, nematodes and worms as the main food categories selectively eaten by fishes of Qua Iboe River. These fishes exhibited benthopelogic exploitation and grazing tendency.

Reference this Paper: The Food and Feeding Habits of Fishes of a Coastal Nigeria River by Blessing J. Oribhabor, Aniekan E. Akpan and Gift S. David published at: "Scientific Research Journal (Scirj), Volume VII, Issue IX, September 2019 Edition, Page 43-63 ".

Search Terms: Food, Feeding habits, Fishes, Coastal River, Nigeria

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