Natural Food Selectivity Changes with Weights of Nile Tilapia,Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus), Reared in Fertilized Earthen Ponds

This work was carried out to study the relationship between fish weight and natural food selectivity of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus) reared in earthen ponds without supplementary diet and to guide the adaptation of feeding and fertilization strategies. Fish were stocked (1.5 fish/m²) in four fertilized earthen ponds (0.1 ha) for 6 months. Fifty fish were sampled monthly to estimate individual total weight and length and evaluate stomach contents. Fish specimens were categorized into different weight classes: <25 g, 25–50 g, 50–75 g, 75–100 g, and 100–125 g. Overall, the 50–75 g weight class had the highest degree of stomach fullness. The intestinal length-fish length ratio was similar across all fish weights, ranging from 2.9–3.4. Likewise, the composition of food items found in fish stomach was ranked as phytoplankton > detritus > zooplankton. Phytoplankton contribution to gut content increased with increasing fish weight, while detritus and zooplankton contribution decreased. Zooplankton never exceeded 1% of total stomach contents. Cyanobacteria, Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae and Euglenophyceae mostly represented the phytoplankton. Bacillariophyceae dominated the phytoplanktonic portion of stomach contents at small fish size (<75 g/fish), while Chlorophyceae is the dominant group at large fish size (> 75 g/fish). Fish could select Cyanobacteria and Euglenophyceae at all fish weights, meanwhile Chlorophyceae and Bacillariophyceae were eaten with slight selectivity at larger weights..