Assessment of Clarias gariepinus as a biological control agent against mosquito larvae

The emergence and spread of insecticide resistant mosquitoes renewed interest in investigating the use of larvivorous fish as a biological control agent. The potential of Clarias gariepinus fish in controlling Anopheles arabiensis and culicine larvae was assessed under laboratory and semi-field cond...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC ecology 2016-05, Vol.16 (1), p.27-27, Article 27
Main Authors: Chala, Buze, Erko, Berhanu, Animut, Abebe, Degarege, Abraham, Petros, Beyene
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Feed - analysis
Animals
Anopheles - growth & development
Anopheles arabiensis
Biological control
Biological Control Agents
Biological pest control
Breeding
breeding sites
Catfishes - physiology
Clarias gariepinus
Culex - growth & development
Ecosystem
Ethiopia
Experiments
Feeding Behavior
Fish
Fish feeds
Food
Insect control
insect larvae
Insecticide resistance
Insecticides
Laboratories
Larva - growth & development
Larvae
Light
Malaria
Mosquito control
Mosquito Control - methods
Mosquitoes
Physiological aspects
Predation
regression analysis
Regression models
Sharptooth catfish
Tropical diseases
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Summary:The emergence and spread of insecticide resistant mosquitoes renewed interest in investigating the use of larvivorous fish as a biological control agent. The potential of Clarias gariepinus fish in controlling Anopheles arabiensis and culicine larvae was assessed under laboratory and semi-field conditions. Small size (15-20 cm) C. gariepinus fish consumed greater number of mosquito larvae than the large size fish (25-40 cm) in the multivariate regression model (β = 13.36, 95 % CI = 4.57, 22.15). The Anopheles larvae consumed was greater in number than the culicines larvae consumed by the fish (β = 12.10, 95 % CI = 3.31, 20.89). The number of larvae consumed was greater during the night hours than during the light hours (β = 30.06, 95 % CI = 21.27, 38.85). Amount of supplementary fish food did not cause significant differences in the number of mosquito larvae consumed by the fish among different groups. C. gariepinus was observed to feed on mosquito larvae under laboratory and semi-field conditions. C. gariepinus fed on the larvae of An. arabiensis and culicines readily. Hence, it can be used as an alternative mosquito control agent in Ethiopia where the breeding habitats are small and localized.
ISSN:1472-6785
1472-6785
DOI:10.1186/s12898-016-0081-0