On the food of channel catfish stocked in farm ponds

Stomach contents of 382 channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque), ranging in length from 47 to 440 mm collected from farm ponds of Auburn University were examined. Fish in these ponds were fiven supplemental feed 6 days a week. Juvenile catfish below 100 mm fed more actively than other size groups. Channel catfish of all size groups were found to have eaten dipteran larvae and pupae more frequently than other natural food items. Dipterans contributed to a maximum of 47.7% and a minimum of 27.3% in the stomachs of 47–100 mm and 101–200 mm long fish, respectively. Supplemental feed was second in importance among other food items consumed by fish of all size groups. Other food items present in the stomachs in varying quantities were algae, molluscs, micro-crustaceans, coleopterans, trichopterans, fish remains and detritus, thus indicating the omnivorous feeding habit of channel catfish.