Food and feeding habits of Chromidotilapia guentheri (Cichlidae) from Ogba river, Nigeria

The results of detailed qualitative and quantitative analyses of food in the gut or Chromidotilapia guentheri are provided. Food in the full stomachs constitute a mean 0.52% of the body weight, while food in the intesting accounted for a mean value 1.53% of body weight. A wide spectrum of food items was encountered in the guts of this fish species that include a variety of plant materials and animals. The dominant plants include algae (especially blue-green), diatoms and different colonial, unicellular and filamentous algae. The animals found in the gut include nematode, copepods, cladocera, insect larvae and parts, arthropod appendages and fish scales. The results showed that there is not much difference between the food items found in the stomach and the intestine.