Food and Feeding Habits of Syndontis ocellifer (Boulenger, 1900) From River Adofi, Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Food and feeding habits of the mochokid fish, Syndontis ocellifer from River Adofi was studied. The food items in the stomach of S. ocellifer covered a wide spectrum, ranging from various types of algae, detritus, sand and mud to invertebrates. Thus, the species exhibited an omnivorous feeding. The absolute and relative importance indices indicated that detrital materials were the most important of all the various food categories consumed by S. ocellifer. There was seasonal variation in the feeding habit of the fish. The rainy season feeding intensity was quite higher than the dry season. The percentage of empty stomach was highest during the dry season months of February and November. The diet distribution of percentage empty stomach showed that this species was a day light feeder in this river.

Keywords: Mochokids, Southern Nigeria, River Adofi

Tropical Freshwater Biology Vol. 17 (1) 2008: pp. 1-12