Food and Feeding Habits of Catfish (Synodontis nigrita Cuvier And Valenciennes) In River Rima, Sokoto, Nigeria

The food and feeding habits of Synodontis nigrita (Cuvier and Valenciennes) from River Rima were studied. One hundred and three samples were collected from September to October 2006. The stomachs were analyzed using frequency of occurrence method. The mean total length of the samples was 13.04±2.55SD, mean total weight 30.42±21.84SD and mean gut length 39.57±8.92SD. The fish is an omnivore, feeding mainly on phytoplankton, zooplankton, detritus, plant tissues, insects, crustaceans and insect parts. The presence of detritus in almost all the stomachs indicated bottom feeding. The fish gut length was 3 times the body length