Food and Feeding Habits of the Red-Belly Tilapia (Tilapia zillii Gervais, 1848) (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia

Elias Dadebo; Negesse Kebtineh; Solomon Sorsa; Kassaye Balkew

doi:doi:10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14

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Food and Feeding Habits of the Red-Belly Tilapia (Tilapia zillii Gervais, 1848) (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia

Elias Dadebo, Negesse Kebtineh, Solomon Sorsa, Kassaye Balkew

Published in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Volume 3, Issue 1)

Received: 24 December 2013 Published: 30 January 2014

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Abstract

Food and feeding habits of T. zillii were studied from 572 fish samples collected from April to May 2011 (dry season) and July to August 2011 (wet season) from Lake Ziway. Stomach content analysis was conducted using frequency of occurrence and volumetric methods of analyses. Macrophytes, detritus and phytoplankton were the dominant food categories occurring in 94.9%, 94.2% and 82.5% of the total stomachs examined and constituting 45.2%, 29.4% and 16.8% of the total volume, respectively. The contributions of insets, nematodes, zooplankton and ostracods were relatively low. Macrophytes (50.4%), phytoplankton (21.8%) and detritus (18.5%) constituted the bulk of the food volume during the dry season. In the wet season detritus (40.8%), macrophytes (37.8%), phytoplankton (12.5%) and insects (6.5%) contributed the bulk of the food categories consumed. Phytoplankton, detritus and insects were important food categories of juveniles (5.0-9.9 cm TL) whereas macrophytes, detritus and phytoplankton were important food categories of adults. The importance of phytoplankton, detritus and insects declined with size of fish whereas the importance of macrophytes and nematodes increased with fish size. Based on the results of the stomach contents it was concluded that the species is an herbivorous feeding mainly on macrophytes, detritus and phytoplankton. The contribution of animal origin food was low.

Published in	Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Volume 3, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14
Page(s)	17-23
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Diet composition, feeding, Lake Ziway, T. zillii

References

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Elias Dadebo, Negesse Kebtineh, Solomon Sorsa, Kassaye Balkew. (2014). Food and Feeding Habits of the Red-Belly Tilapia (Tilapia zillii Gervais, 1848) (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 3(1), 17-23. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14

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Elias Dadebo; Negesse Kebtineh; Solomon Sorsa; Kassaye Balkew. Food and Feeding Habits of the Red-Belly Tilapia (Tilapia zillii Gervais, 1848) (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia. Agric. For. Fish. 2014, 3(1), 17-23. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14

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AMA Style

Elias Dadebo, Negesse Kebtineh, Solomon Sorsa, Kassaye Balkew. Food and Feeding Habits of the Red-Belly Tilapia (Tilapia zillii Gervais, 1848) (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia. Agric For Fish. 2014;3(1):17-23. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14

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@article{10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14,
  author = {Elias Dadebo and Negesse Kebtineh and Solomon Sorsa and Kassaye Balkew},
  title = {Food and Feeding Habits of the Red-Belly Tilapia (Tilapia zillii Gervais, 1848) (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia},
  journal = {Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
  volume = {3},
  number = {1},
  pages = {17-23},
  doi = {10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aff.20140301.14},
  abstract = {Food and feeding habits of T. zillii were studied from 572 fish samples collected from April to May 2011 (dry season) and July to August 2011 (wet season) from Lake Ziway. Stomach content analysis was conducted using frequency of occurrence and volumetric methods of analyses. Macrophytes, detritus and phytoplankton were the dominant food categories occurring in 94.9%, 94.2% and 82.5% of the total stomachs examined and constituting 45.2%, 29.4% and 16.8% of the total volume, respectively. The contributions of insets, nematodes, zooplankton and ostracods were relatively low. Macrophytes (50.4%), phytoplankton (21.8%) and detritus (18.5%) constituted the bulk of the food volume during the dry season. In the wet season detritus (40.8%), macrophytes (37.8%), phytoplankton (12.5%) and insects (6.5%) contributed the bulk of the food categories consumed. Phytoplankton, detritus and insects were important food categories of juveniles (5.0-9.9 cm TL) whereas macrophytes, detritus and phytoplankton were important food categories of adults. The importance of phytoplankton, detritus and insects declined with size of fish whereas the importance of macrophytes and nematodes increased with fish size. Based on the results of the stomach contents it was concluded that the species is an herbivorous feeding mainly on macrophytes, detritus and phytoplankton. The contribution of animal origin food was low.},
 year = {2014}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Food and Feeding Habits of the Red-Belly Tilapia (Tilapia zillii Gervais, 1848) (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia
AU - Elias Dadebo
AU - Negesse Kebtineh
AU - Solomon Sorsa
AU - Kassaye Balkew
Y1 - 2014/01/30
PY - 2014
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14
DO - 10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14
T2 - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
JF - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
JO - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
SP - 17
EP - 23
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2328-5648
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14
AB - Food and feeding habits of T. zillii were studied from 572 fish samples collected from April to May 2011 (dry season) and July to August 2011 (wet season) from Lake Ziway. Stomach content analysis was conducted using frequency of occurrence and volumetric methods of analyses. Macrophytes, detritus and phytoplankton were the dominant food categories occurring in 94.9%, 94.2% and 82.5% of the total stomachs examined and constituting 45.2%, 29.4% and 16.8% of the total volume, respectively. The contributions of insets, nematodes, zooplankton and ostracods were relatively low. Macrophytes (50.4%), phytoplankton (21.8%) and detritus (18.5%) constituted the bulk of the food volume during the dry season. In the wet season detritus (40.8%), macrophytes (37.8%), phytoplankton (12.5%) and insects (6.5%) contributed the bulk of the food categories consumed. Phytoplankton, detritus and insects were important food categories of juveniles (5.0-9.9 cm TL) whereas macrophytes, detritus and phytoplankton were important food categories of adults. The importance of phytoplankton, detritus and insects declined with size of fish whereas the importance of macrophytes and nematodes increased with fish size. Based on the results of the stomach contents it was concluded that the species is an herbivorous feeding mainly on macrophytes, detritus and phytoplankton. The contribution of animal origin food was low.
VL - 3
IS - 1
ER -

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Author Information

Elias Dadebo

Department of Biology, Hawassa University, P. O. Box 5, Hawassa, Ethiopia
Negesse Kebtineh

Department of Wild Life, Wetland and Fishery Management, Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Hawassa University, Shashemene, Ethiopia
Solomon Sorsa

Department of Biology, Hawassa University, P. O. Box 5, Hawassa, Ethiopia
Kassaye Balkew

Department of Biology, Hawassa University, P. O. Box 5, Hawassa, Ethiopia

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APA Style

Elias Dadebo, Negesse Kebtineh, Solomon Sorsa, Kassaye Balkew. (2014). Food and Feeding Habits of the Red-Belly Tilapia (Tilapia zillii Gervais, 1848) (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 3(1), 17-23. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14

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Elias Dadebo; Negesse Kebtineh; Solomon Sorsa; Kassaye Balkew. Food and Feeding Habits of the Red-Belly Tilapia (Tilapia zillii Gervais, 1848) (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia. Agric. For. Fish. 2014, 3(1), 17-23. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14

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AMA Style

Elias Dadebo, Negesse Kebtineh, Solomon Sorsa, Kassaye Balkew. Food and Feeding Habits of the Red-Belly Tilapia (Tilapia zillii Gervais, 1848) (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia. Agric For Fish. 2014;3(1):17-23. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14

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@article{10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14,
  author = {Elias Dadebo and Negesse Kebtineh and Solomon Sorsa and Kassaye Balkew},
  title = {Food and Feeding Habits of the Red-Belly Tilapia (Tilapia zillii Gervais, 1848) (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Lake Ziway, Ethiopia},
  journal = {Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
  volume = {3},
  number = {1},
  pages = {17-23},
  doi = {10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140301.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aff.20140301.14},
  abstract = {Food and feeding habits of T. zillii were studied from 572 fish samples collected from April to May 2011 (dry season) and July to August 2011 (wet season) from Lake Ziway. Stomach content analysis was conducted using frequency of occurrence and volumetric methods of analyses. Macrophytes, detritus and phytoplankton were the dominant food categories occurring in 94.9%, 94.2% and 82.5% of the total stomachs examined and constituting 45.2%, 29.4% and 16.8% of the total volume, respectively. The contributions of insets, nematodes, zooplankton and ostracods were relatively low. Macrophytes (50.4%), phytoplankton (21.8%) and detritus (18.5%) constituted the bulk of the food volume during the dry season. In the wet season detritus (40.8%), macrophytes (37.8%), phytoplankton (12.5%) and insects (6.5%) contributed the bulk of the food categories consumed. Phytoplankton, detritus and insects were important food categories of juveniles (5.0-9.9 cm TL) whereas macrophytes, detritus and phytoplankton were important food categories of adults. The importance of phytoplankton, detritus and insects declined with size of fish whereas the importance of macrophytes and nematodes increased with fish size. Based on the results of the stomach contents it was concluded that the species is an herbivorous feeding mainly on macrophytes, detritus and phytoplankton. The contribution of animal origin food was low.},
 year = {2014}
}

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