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Research and Reviews : Journal of Veterinary Science and Technology

Food and Feeding Habits of Parrot Grunt (Pomadasys peroteti) from New Calabar River, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

  1. kingsley chukwu

Abstract

The foods and feeding habits of Pomadasys peroteti (Parrot grunt) form New Calabar River, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria was investigated in order to understand its food preferences and feeding habits via the stomach contents. The analyses of the stomach content were carried out by frequency of occurrence (F), number method (N), index of relative importance (IRI) and index of stomach fullness (IFS). Parts of crabs (82.2%) constituted the most important food component while teleost was the least (1.0%) other food items found in the gut were parts of shrimp (3.2%) and some unidentified objects (13.5%). The index of stomach fullness rose from the month of May to June but dropped quickly from there in July. The fish general condition followed the same trend within the same months. Whereas the mean condition factor (K) value was 1.46±0.04 and index of stomach fullness (IFS) was 1.23±0.45. Most of its prey teleost was intact in the stomach of P. peroteti examined. This is an indication that it swallows its prey whole. However, most of the other food items such as crabs and shrimps were found in parts. This further highlights the feeding habit of the fish as a likely scavenger. Feeding intensity was found to increase with fish size, as the incidence of empty stomachs reduced with increasing size of samples. Furthermore, the fish condition was better with higher stomach fullness. Hence this species being carnivorous in nature would require high protein feed and elevated feed supply with increasing size to achieve better growth in captivity.

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