Food and Feeding Habits of the Brackish River Prawn (Macrobrachium macrobrachion, Herklots, 1857) from Great Kwa River, Obufa Esuk Beach, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The study investigated the stomach contents of Macrobrachium macrobrachion from the commercial artisanal catches in Obufa Esuk Beach along Great Kwa River, Cross River, Nigeria. Samples were collected for a period of six months from February, 2006 to July, 2006. The stomach analysis was carried out using frequency of occurrence and numeric methods. It was observed that the prawn fed on a variety of food items such as detritus; diatoms, sand, mud particle fish bone, insect part and flagellate which were consistent. In terms of percentage frequency of occurrence detritus topped the list of food items with 19.58% while unidentified invertebrates were the least food component 0.74% by number. Detritus, diatoms, unidentified algae, mud particles, sand were not numerically quantified. Fish bones were only counted in stomach where no fish remain occurred. The results indicated that M. macrobrachion can be considered as an omnivorous detritivore. Keywords: Stomach analysis, Food items, Macrobrachium macrobrachion, Obufa Esuk Beach, Nigeri