Biology and fishery of the pig-face bream, Lethrinus lentian Lacepede I. Food and feeding habits

Abstract

The study of the food of fishes attracted the attention of fishery biologists from the beginning of the present century in view of the recognised importance of food as an environmental factor influencing the growth and distribution of fishes and the success of their fishery. A great deal of work has been done on the food and feeding habits of fishes from Indian waters. A perusal of the literature shows that although casual observations have been made on the food of lethrinids by Al-Hussaini (1947), Devanesan and Chidambaram (1948) and Wheeler (1953), very little information is available about the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the food of these fishes. The present investigation was undertaken to get a xlear picture of the food and feeding habits of Lethrinus lentjan, and attention was devoted to the following aspects during the study: (i) qualitative and quantitative analyses of the food, (ii) feeding intensity, (iii) feeding habits and (iv) composition of food in relation to the size of the fish