Academic Journal of Nutrition 6 (2): 28-33, 2017

ISSN 2309-8902
© IDOSI Publications, 2017
DOI: 10.5829/idosi.ajn.2017.28.33

Food and Feeding Habits of the African Big Barb Labeobarbus intermedius (Rüppell, 1836)
in Ethiopian Water Bodies: A Review

Agumassie Tesfahun and Mathewos Temesgen

Ambo University College of Natural and Computational Science, Department of Biology, Ethiopia

Abstract: The food and feeding habits of the African big barb Labeobarbus intermedius (Rüpell, 1836) was
reviewed in Ethiopian water bodies systems. Data sources were collected from June, 2017 through November,
2017 from different sources of information. The results from difference study indicated that macrophytes,
detritus, insects and phytoplankton are the most important food items in the diet of L. intermedius, whereas
the contributions of zooplankton, fish scales and ostracods are relatively low in the diet. Macrophytes and
detritus are the important food items reported in the diet of fish during the wet months, whereas phytoplankton
and zooplankton are the dominant food items in dry season. The fish showed different ontogenetic shift in
different Ethiopian water bodies as it increases in size, except in Lake Tana, where no visible ontogenetic dietary
shift was reported. Based on the review, L.intermedius is omnivorous and the dietary pattern of L.intermedius
in Ethiopian water bodies shifts with prey availability, season, habitat difference and size of the fish, aspects
that might warrant further study in view of aquaculture applications as well as climate change.

Key words: Ethiopia Feeding Habits L. intermedius Ontogenetic Diet Shift

INTRODUCTION
The African big barb Labeobarbus intermedius is a
widely distributed fish species in Northern Kenya and in
most parts of Ethiopian drainage basin [1]. They are found
widely distributed in Ethiopian rift valley basin, Abay
basin and Baro-Akobo basin part of Ethiopia, where Lake
Tana harbored the largest number of big barb species
[2, 3]. It is one of the most commercially important fish
species in the country [4-6]. The total annual yield of L.
intermedius from the total inland water bodies is
estimated to be about 365 tonnes per year [4]. However,
recently the need for consumption of L. intermedius
mainly the catch from rift valley lakes (Lake Hawassa
and Lake Koka) declined, because it was found to be
unsafe for human consumption due to high mercury
concentration [7]. In addition, the declining of the fish
species in natural environments due to overfishing and
parasitic infection has result the less accessibility of the
fish on the local markets [1, 6, 7].
The diet composition of the fish is varying
considerably within a wide range of temporal, spatial
conditions and environmental factors [8]. According to
Persson and Crowder [9] the major factors that influence
diet composition of L. intermedius are fish size, maturity,
environmental condition, season (Water level), depth,
latitude and habitat types. In aquatic systems, where the
water level in lakes and reservoirs have been known to
fluctuate, the quality and abundance of the food items
vary significantly through a time [8]. A particular
characteristic of L. intermedius is that the increase in size
during their ontogeny is correlated with changes in
food quality and quantity in aquatic systems and
growth varies according to the food availability in the
environment [8, 9].
The study of food and feeding habits of freshwater
fish species is a subject of continuous research. This is
because it makes up a basis for the development of a
successful management program on fish capture and
culture [10]. Moreover, studies on natural feeding of fish
enable to identify the trophic relationships present in
aquatic ecosystems, identifying feeding composition,
structure and stability of food webs [11, 12]. In addition,
the information is vital for management of the fish in the
controlled environment and for formulation of the
appropriate dietary given for the fish in the aquaculture

Corresponding Author: Agumassie Tesfahun, Ambo University College of Natural and Computational Science,
Department of Biology, Ethiopia. E-mail: agumas2012@yahoo.com.
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 Acad. J. Nutr., 6 (2): 28-33, 2017

[10]. However, the information on African big barb is very
limited to use it for aquaculture in Africa in general and in
Ethiopia in particular.
Various authors have studied the food and feeding
habits of L. intermedius in Ethiopian water bodies
[6, 7, 13-17]. All of them reported that L. intermedius is
feed on different types of food based in natural
environment on the environment in which they live.
However, there is no compiled information on the food
and feeding habit of L. intermedius in different Ethiopian
water bodies, which give the general insight on food and
feeding habit of the fish. Therefore, this review paper is
aimed to assess the food and feeding habits of the
African big barb Labeobarbus intermedius in Ethiopian
water bodies.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Data sources were collected from June 2017 through
November 2017. A range of literature sources were used
for this review including journal articles, books and book
chapters, workshop proceedings, FAO reports, bulletins,
legal documents and unpublished reports including PhD
dissertations. The documents were collected from Addis
Ababa University library, Hawassa University library,
Ethiopian Ministry of Livestock and fishery, from the
individual researchers and from Internet.
Food and Feeding Habit of African Big Barbs in Ethiopian
Water Bodies
Diet Composition of African Big Barbs in Different
Water Bodies of Ethiopia: Different authors have reported
that L. intermedius feed on variety of food items including
aquatic macrophytes, zooplankton, phytoplankton,
detritus, insects, fish scales and nematodes [1]. However,
the type of food items consumed by L. intermedius
depends on prey availability, season, habitat differences
and size of the fish [6, 13, 18]. For instance, Admassu and
Dadebo [13] reported that the diet composition of the fish
in Lake Hawassa encompasses phytoplankton, insects,
detritus, macrophytes, gastropods and fish, respectively.
However, Desta et al. [6] reported that food items in the
diet of the fish is dominated by mollusks (Gastropods),
aquatic insects, macrophytes, detritus, fish fry and fish
eggs, respectively in the same lake. In other words, the
diet of the same species in Lake Tana is mainly dominated
by benthic invertebrates followed by insect larvae,
detritus, Zooplankton, Macrophyte and nematode,
respectively [14, 15, 19]. According to Dadebo et al. [1],
macrophytes, detritus and insects are the most important
in the lake. In similar manner, macrophytes, zooplankton
and aquatic insects accounted for 81.50 % volumetric
contribution of the prey items consumed in the diet of
L. intermedius in Gilgel Gibe Reservoir [20]. However,
Engdaw [19] reported the dominance of detritus in the diet
of L. intermedius, which accounted for 43.12% of the total
volume followed by insects (17.89%), phytoplankton
(14.57%) and gastropods (12.02%), respectively in Lake
Tana (Figure 1).
Generally, the dietary studies on big barbs in different
water bodies showed that the ingestion of detritus, sand
particles and benthic food items indicated the ability of
the species to live in benthic habitats [13, 19]. However,
several studies have considered that an increased
consumption of detritus is a prime response to a decline
of higher valued primary food resources in the water [21].

Fig. 1: The mean volume (%) of different food items in the diet of L. intermedius from some of the Ethiopian freshwater
systems (MAC- Macrophytes, DET-Detritus, INS-Insects, PHY-Phytoplankton, OST-Ostracods, FSC-Fishscales,
MOL-Molluscs, FG-Fish egg, FPR-Fish prey and ZPK-Zooplankton) [1, 6, 19, 20].

29
 Acad. J. Nutr., 6 (2): 28-33, 2017
This is because detritus is low in its nutritional value
[22, 23]. In addition, the importance of insects mainly
Dipterans in the diet of different Barbus species was
reported by various authors [1, 6, 19, 20]. This could be
due to the dense stand of aquatic weeds that support
significant biofilm assemblage of benthic prey production
[24].
Fish Preys in the Diet of African Big Barbs in Ethiopian
Water Bodies: Pisces, mainly, small pisces are using as
source of food for many of the larger fish species.
However, there was no pisces observed in the diet of
L.intermedius in different water bodies of Ethiopia, for
instance, in Lake Koka [1], Lake Tana [19] and Gilgel Gibe
Reservoir [20] (Figure1). This may be due to the presence
of a top predator, such as Clarias gariepinus, which
feeds on Cyprinus carpio, Oreochromis niloticus and
Barbus spp. [1]. Studies indicated that piscivory is not
common in Cyprinidae due to the absence of oral teeth,
lack of stomach and shortage of stomach acidity for
digesting of large preys [6, 25, 26]. On the other hand,
piscivory seems to be widespread among large African
cyprinidae when there is a high abundance of suitable fish
prey and in the absence of non-Cyprinidae specialized
piscivores [15, 27]. But, in Europe, there are some
specialized piscivorous Cyprinidae, such as Aspius aspius
even in the presence of other piscivorous fishes [6]. In
Lake Tana, however, of the eight big piscivorous barbus
species, five of them are specialized piscivores [26]. The
high piscivory in big barbs, both in the littoral and pelagic
habitat of Lake Tana was attributed to the high
abundance of the small barb Barbus humilis for littoral
piscivorous [27] and Barbus tanapelagius for the pelagic
piscivores [15]. Similarly, in Lake Hawassa, the piscivory
of the big barb was based on the abundance of small barb
Enteromius paludinosus, which is more abundant in the
littoral zone and in the absence of other specialized
piscivorous [6]. Similar to Ethiopian strains, the studies on
diet composition of big barbs from other inland waters of
Africa and Asia showed that big barbs are polyphagous
and able to change their diets depending on the
availability of foods [13, 18] and individual size-based
differences [28].
Seasonal Variation in Diet Composition of the Big Barbs
in Ethiopian Water Bodies: High water levels are
designated as resource rich, while low water levels have
poor resources in trophic dynamics mainly in lentic
ecosystems [29]. Many authors have reported the
seasonal variation of the food type and their proportion
30
in the diet of L. intermedius in Ethiopia. For instance, a
considerable variation was reported in the type of diet and
the proportions of food consumed by L. intermedius in
Lake Koka, where detritus (34.0%) and insects (32.5%) are
the most important food items during the dry period
volumetrically followed by macrophytes (12.7%),
phytoplankton (5.8%), Ostracods (4.4%), fish scales
(4.6%) and zooplankton (6.1%), respectively [1].
According to Dadebo et al. [1] the source of detritus
could be probably floods that introduced fragments of
plant materials in the lake. However, macrophytes are the
most important food items accounting for 66.1% of the
total volume food items in wet season of the year. The
increase of ingestion of macrophytes during the wet
season can be explained by the fish moving to shallow
parts of the lake for reproduction. They stay there for a
long period by feeding on macrophytes and vegetations
in the wet season [31]. This show that, the contributions
of foods of plant origin during the wet month is very high,
while the contribution of animal prey is low. In other way,
aquatic insects (28.31%), detritus (15%) and zooplankton
(13%) are the largely consumed food types by L.
intermedius during the dry season, whereas macrophytes
(38.21 %) is the most important food type consumed
during the wet season in the diet of L. intermedius in
Gilgel Gibe Reservoir [20]. In Lake Hawassa, however, fish
preys (45%) and phytoplankton (35%) are the most
dominant food items consumed during the dry season
followed by aquatic insects (9%) and mollusks (7%),
respectively, whereas insects (46%) and macrophytes
(25%) are most important food items consumed in the wet
season [13]. Sibbing and Nagelkerke [18] also investigated
big barbs in Lake Tana, upper Blue Nile basin are
omnivorous, which can shift its diet depending on
availability of prey, seasonal and spatial differences.
Accordingly, it consume on more of detritus (28.85%) and
benthic insects (6.75%) during the wet season in this area
(Figure 2).
Ontogenetic Dietary Shift of African Big Barb in
Ethiopian Water Bodies: According to Otieno et al. [32]
fish mainly feed on food items that can fit into their mouth
and what their stomach can digest. As fish grow, the
stomach becomes longer, and their digestive system
becomes more developed. However, the feeding rate
relative to body weight decreases, whereas the
absolute rate of food consumed increases [33].
Similarly, L. intermedius showed various ontogenetic
dietary shifts in different water bodies of Ethiopia. In Lake
Hawassa, for instance, the feeding habits for length
 Acad. J. Nutr., 6 (2): 28-33, 2017

Fig. 2: The mean volume (%) of different food items in the diet L. intermedius in dry and wet season from Lake Koka,
Gilgel Gibe Reservoir and Lake Hawassa Ethiopia (MAC- Macrophytes, DET-Detritus, INS-Insects, PHY-
Phytoplankton, OST-Ostracods, FSC-Fishscales, MOL-Molluscs, FG-Fish egg, FPR-Fish prey and ZPK-
Zooplankton) [1, 13, 20].

Fig. 3: The mean volume (%) of different food items in the diet L. intermedius of different length classes from Lake Koka,
Lake Tana and Lake Hawassa Ethiopia (MAC- Macrophytes, DET-Detritus, INS-Insects, PHY-Phytoplankton,
OST-Ostracods, FSC-Fishs cales, MOL-Molluscs, FG-Fish egg, FPR-Fish prey and ZPK-Zooplankton) [1, 6, 19].

groups of <20 cm TL showed that aquatic insects (38%),
mollusks (33%) and fish egg (18%) are the most important
food items identified, whereas for the length range of 20-
29.9 cm TL, mollusks (68%), insects (25%), fish prey (10%)
and fish egg (10%) contributes the largest volume of the
fish diet. For the length group between 30-39.9 cm TL,
however, mollusks (50%), fish prey (25%) and insects
(10%) accounted for the largest proportion of the diet and
for the size class of >40 cm TL, fish prey (56%), detritus
(20%), mollusks (15%) and fish egg (13%) are contributing
the largest volume in diet of the fish, respectively [6].
According to Desta et al. [6] L. intermedius in Lake
Hawassa shifted from insectivores to piscivorous feeding
habits as it increase in size.
In other words, the importance of macrophytes,
detritus and insects is significant in all size classes of L.
intermedius, while the contributions of ostracods,
phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish scales were changed
regardless of their size in Lake Koka. For instance, detritus
is the important food items they reported in the diet of fish
with <20 cm TL and 20-29.9 cm TL, whereas macrophytes
and detritus are the dominant food item by volume in fish
with total length between 30-39.9 cm TL and above 40 cm
TL [1]. This indicated that L. intermedius in Lake Koka
shift its feeding behavior from detritivores feeders to
macrophytes feeders.
In Lake Tana, however, phytoplankton, detritus and
insects were important food items preferred by <20 cm TL,
respectively. For the length group of above 20cm TL,
detritus is the most important food item constituted bulk
of the diet of the fish in volume [19]. According to
Engdaw [19] L. intermedius in Lake Tana shift their
feeding habit from phytoplanktivours to detritus feeders
as it increases in its size. However, the feeding habit of L.

31
 Acad. J. Nutr., 6 (2): 28-33, 2017
intermedius in this lake does not show a considerable
ontogenetic diet shift, where small and large sized fish
consumed similar food items (Figure 3).
Generally, detritus, phytoplankton and insects are
the mostly feed food item in smaller fish while
macrophytes are the most preferred food items in
larger sized fish. The size-related shifts in food item
preferences of L. intermedius in Ethiopian water bodies
seem to depend upon physiological requirements,
whereas the seasonal changes in dietary pattern might
rather reflect the opportunistic feeding behavior of the
species. It is unclear at this stage what these changes
mean for the fish’s physiology, but warrant further
investigation in view of their meaning for aquaculture
applications as well as for consequences of climate
change.
CONCLUSION
The most preferred food items identified in the diet of
big barbs in Ethiopia are detritus, macrophytes and
insects while zooplankton, fish scales, phytoplankton and
ostracods. However, the composition of the diet shows
the considerable temporal and spatial variation. The diet
composition also shows a significant variation in different
length groups of the fish in all water bodies. Perhaps,
detritus, macrophytes and insects are the dominant food
items in all size classes. The ontogenetic dietary shift is
not similar among the water bodies. Generally, L.
intermedius seem to be omnivorous in its feeding habits
in all water bodies. However, the food items of plant origin
dominate the stomach contents, typically associated with
less protein content than animal origin food items.
Therefore, further study in the dietary aspect of the fish
feeding habit and works on the further improvement and
optimization protein rich feed is very important at
aquaculture level.
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