Feeding Patterns of Two Commercially Important Fish Species Scomberoides commersonnianus and S. tol in the Northern Arabian Sea Coast of Pakistan
Feeding Patterns of Two Commercially Important Fish Species Scomberoides commersonnianus and S. tol in the Northern Arabian Sea Coast of Pakistan
Nazia Qamar1, Sher Khan Panhwar1,* and Ralf Riedel2,*
ABSTRACT
Port landing of Scomberoides commersonnianus and S. tol were obtained between July 2013 and June 2015 for stomach content analysis. Analysis of prey composition was done using permutational analysis of variance (permanova), with species, life stage (juvenile and adults), gender, and weather (rainy and dry season) as factors. Patterns of empty stomachs were investigated to estimate feeding intensity. Feeding intensity was estimated with logistic regression, using the same independent variables as above. Prey importance was also investigated. Prey importance was assessed using a Wilcox Rank Correlation analysis on the Index of Relative Importance (IRI) by species and life-stage. Permanova analysis showed that fish was the most important dietary item for juveniles and adults. Adults secondarily preferred crustaceans. Fish was predominant for S. commersonnianus and crustaceans, especially of the genus Acetes sp., was equally important for S. tol. Acetes sp. was more important during the dry season for both, S. commersonnianus and S. tol. Adults of both species showed a higher feeding activity. The IRI showed fish, followed by crustaceans, to be the most important food item for S. commersonnianus and S. tol. This study is to offer baseline data toward implementing a fishery in Pakistan for current and future generations.
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June 2018
Vol. 50, Iss. 3, Pages 799-1198
