Diet Composition and Intensity of Feeding of Tenualosa ilisha (Hamilton, 1822) Occurring in the Northern Bay of Bengal, India

Sachinandan Dutta*, Sourav Maity, Subhra Bikash Bhattacharyya, Jetendra Kumar Sundaray, Sugata Hazra

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Feeding intensity and diet composition of Hilsa Shad (Tenualosa ilisha) from Northern Bay of Bengal were studied between June 2010 and March 2011. The stomach contents of 320 fishes were analyzed from the northern part of the Bay of Bengal to understand the food items of this species. The major constituents of food are organic debris (26.06 ± 5.19 % SD), diatoms (31.22 ± 11.97 % SD), other algae (12.41 ± 2.62 % SD), and crustaceans (3.50 ± 1.28 % SD). The most abundant species of diatoms were Coscinodiscus, Pleurosigma, Bacillaria, Nitzschia, Biddulphia, Diatoma and Asterionella. The stomach of Hilsa was found to be almost empty during June to October while it was almost full during November to March. Significant positive correlation among feeding intensity, chlorophyll-A concentration and salinity of the ambient water indicated that feeding in T. ilisha is influenced by a number of factors. Strong positive correlation between percentage occurrence of diatoms and intensity of feeding indicated their preference for diatom–food.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)33-37
Number of pages5
JournalProceedings of the Zoological Society
Volume67
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 1 2014

Keywords

  • Diatoms
  • Hilsa Shad
  • Physico-chemical factors
  • Plankton feeder
  • Stomach content

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Immunology
  • Aquatic Science
  • Animal Science and Zoology
  • Genetics
  • Endocrinology
  • Insect Science
  • Cell Biology

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