Some biological aspects of the Silurid Catfish, Bagrus docmak (Forksskal, 1775) in Lake Victoria, Kenya

Abstract

Bagrus docmak is a relatively large catfish found in freshwater habitats in Africa (Ogari & Asila, 1992). It inhabits lakes, swamps and rivers in both shallow and deep waters associated with rocky bottoms and coarse substrates (Lock, 1982). Bagrus docmak is an indigenous piscivorous fish native to Lakes Victoria, Albert, Edward and George and the Nile and Kagera Rivers in Uganda (Ogari & Asila, 1992;Ogutu-Ohwayo, 1990). It is an important source of economic livelihoods to communities located around Lake Victoria. Additionally, B. docmak is a species of high aquaculture potential largely because of its attractive attributes that include size, taste, flesh quality and overall commercial importance (Mwanja et al., 2014). Being a carnivorous fish, it can also be used in polyculture with Nile tilapia