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Food and feeding habit of a freshwater catfish, Mystus tengara (Siluriformes: Bagridae)

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Abstract

Feeding is the dominant activity in entire life cycle of fish; thus detailed knowledge on food and feeding habit of any fish species is really essential to get success in culture of that particular fish species. Mystus tengara is a popular food fish due to its good taste; and recently it has also got its entry in ornamental fish markets. No such detail works till date has been performed on food and feeding habit of this fish species. So the present study has been performed to get information on the food and feeding habit of Mystus tengara. Gastro Somatic Index, Relative Length of Gut, Gut Fullness & Feeding Intensity and Gut Content Analysis have been performed as parts of the study. Results of the study have revealed that Mystus tengara is a carnivorous fish and zooplankton is the basic food group for this fish species; rotifera has also been observed as the most preferable food class. During the study, feeding activity of this fish species has never been observed to be discontinuous; though it has been observed to vary according to the breeding season; lowest feeding activity has been observed during intense breeding season while highest feeding activity has been observed during pre-spawning months.

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  1. Aquaculture Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, 35, Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata, 700019, West Bengal, India

    S. Gupta & S. Banerjee

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  1. S. Gupta
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  2. S. Banerjee
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Gupta, S., Banerjee, S. Food and feeding habit of a freshwater catfish, Mystus tengara (Siluriformes: Bagridae). J. Ichthyol. 54, 742–748 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945214060071

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