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| dc.contributor.author | Marishet, Teshome | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2019-10-04T08:53:40Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2019-10-04T08:53:40Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019-10-04 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/9797 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Food and feeding habits of large cyprinid fishes (Labeobarbus intermedius, Labeobarbus nedgia and Labeo forskalii) were studied from November 2016 to March 2017 in upper Blue Nile River, Ethiopia. Four sampling sites were selected and fish specimens were sampled during the post-rainy season (November 2016) and dry season (March 2017) using multiflaments of (6, 8, 10, 12, 14 cm) and monofilaments (6, 8, 10 cm) mesh sizes. The length-weight measurements of each specimen were taken onsite. A total number of 401 cyprinid fishes were collected from all sampling sites. One hundred twenty two (30.4%) of the collected cyprinid specimens were recorded with empty guts and 279 (69.6%) of them were with non-empty guts. The whole contents of all non-empty gut specimens from all sampling sites were taken, labelled and preserved using 5% formaldehyde solution for further analysis. In laboratory, all the collected gut contents were examined and identified to different food items using compound and stereo microscopes. The relative importance of each identified different food items in the diet compositions were analyzed using frequency of occureence and volumetric analysis. The length-weight relationship of cyprinid fishes in Blue Nile River showed statistically significant curvilinear relationships. The diets of cyprinid fishes (L. intermedius, L. nedgia and L. forskalii) were composed of a variety of food items including phytoplankton, mud, insects, detritus, macrophytes, sand grains, nematodes, fish scales, zooplankton and gastropods. Specifically, phytoplankton, insects and detritus were the large food categories in the diet of L. intermedius by occurring in 99.3%, 76.6% and 87.2% of stomachs, respectively and accounted for bulk (87.5%) of total food by volume. Whereas, L. nedgia mainly fed on insects and phytoplankton which contributed 37.4% and 34.7% of total volume, respectively. Mud was frequently ingested by L. forskalii and it contributed 57.7% of total volume to the diet of this species. During the post-rainy season, insects and phytoplankton were mostly ingested food items by L. intermedius and L. nedgia while L. forskalii mainly fed up on mud in Blue Nile River. However, during the dry season, phytoplankton was the most important food items in the diet of all cyprinid fishes of the river. Based on results of the current study, L. intermedius and L. nedgia might be omnivores in their diet but L. forskalii seemed to be detrivorous. Keywords: Blue Nile River, Diet composition, Feeding habits, Large Cyprinid fishes | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.subject | Fisheries and Wetlands Management | en_US |
| dc.title | FOOD AND FEEDING HABITS OF LARGE CYPRINID FISHES IN UPPER BLUE NILE RIVER, ETHIOPIA | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
