Absorption of Food Along the Guts of Parachanna obscura and Clarias gariepinus

The knowledge of feeding habit and absorption of food in the gut of fish is important for fish farmers to boost their production and meet the ever increasing demand for man consumption. The carbohydrate, protein and lipid contents of the food ingested and their absorption in the intestine of Parachanna obscura and Clarias gareipinus inhabiting Ogbese River in Ekiti State were investigated. For Parachanna obscura, total protein of the ingested food was 64.54%, total carbohydrate 20.20% while the total lipid in the stomach content was 6.12% of organic matter. The total percentages of the food absorbed were 76.4% protein, 35.9% carbohydrate and 25.2% lipid. For Clarias gariepinus, total protein of the ingested food was 60.87%, total carbohydrate 30.42% while total lipid in the stomach content was 3.30% of organic matter. The total percentages of the food absorbed were 68.0% protein, 45.8% carbohydrate and 24.5% lipid. In both fish species the absorption of protein, carbohydrate and lipid occurred mostly in the fore-gut (the first one-third of the intestine). In Parachanna obscura, the foregut had the highest percentage absorption (59% protein, 24% carbohydrate and 15% lipid), while the hindgut had the lowest percentage absorption (4% protein, 4.6% carbohydrate and 3.3% lipid). In Clarias gariepinus, the foregut had the highest percentage absorption (41% protein, 34% carbohydrate and 14% lipid) while the hindgut had the lowest percentage absorption (4.1% protein, 3.6% carbohydrate and 3.3% lipid). The nutrients contents (protein, carbohydrate and lipid) of the food in Parachanna obscura were significantly different (P>0.05) from the nutrients (protein, carbohydrate and lipid) in the food of Clarias gariepinus. This will provide base-line information useful in artificial food formulation and culture of suitable live organisms for the species during culture of either species.