Feeding intensity and diet composition of Indian shad Tenualosa ilisha (Hamilton, 1822) occurring in Hooghly estuary of West Bengal
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Authors
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Sudipta Sarkar
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Sudhir Kumar Das
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Dibakar Bhakta
Abstract
Feeding intensity and diet composition of Indian shad Tenualosa ilisha (Hamilton, 1822) was studied from June to December with fishes collected from the Hooghly estuary of West Bengal, India. A total of 245 samples of T. ilisha were analyzed with total length and weight ranging from 210 to 420 mm and 115 to 775 g, respectively. The degree of fullness of the stomach was highest during November and the lowest during June and July months. The diet composition comprised of copepods (27.48%), diatoms (18.69%), miscellaneous items (16.49%), sand and mud (9.32%), dinoflagellates (8.21%), filamentous algae (7.69%), blue-green algae, and green algae (6.63%) and other zooplankton (5.49%). The forage ratio of fish indicated the food preference towards zooplankton (mainly copepods) and the Ivlev's electivity index indicated more positive values towards zooplankton and negative values for phytoplankton in different months. The index of the preponderance values of T. ilisha showed copepod food items as the first preferred food item followed by diatoms, etc. The index of relative importance also indicated that copepods (37.73% IRI) were the most important prey items followed by diatoms (27.68% IRI).
Key words Tenualosa ilisha; Electrivity index; Index of preponderance; Index of relative importance
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