DYNAMICS OF FOOD AND FEEDING HABITS OF SOME MARINE FISHES

Abstract

The siudy of food and feeding habits of marine fishes can be attempted
from the standpoint of transfer of energy from one trophic level to the other.
For a proper insight into the problem, it seems desirable to obtain some information
on the environment from where the material for the study is taken. Ecologically
the food organisms can be divided into seven broad groups. These can further
be placed arbitrarily into three main trophic levels. From this type of
approach, the trophic spectrum of some of the marine fishes from the Indian
waters, on which data are available, can be drawn. These relationships can be
interpreted as food chain models showing the groups of organisms which directly
form a pari of the food chain. A large assemblage of animals with a similar
food requirement gives rise to competition within the same trophic level or
ecological cannibalism, which makes the food chain long and complex. A suitable
approach for the analysis of food seems the determination of organic carbon
of the stomach contents. From the carbon content, the. caloric value of
the food can be determined. The knowledge of the energy contents of food
is of much value for making an appraisal of the food conversion efficiency or
ecological efficiency. From the ingested food it is possible to work out the
the total energy losses and energy utilization.