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On the Food of the Air‐breathing Catfish, Clarias batrachus (LINN.) Occurring in Wild Waters
Author(s) -
Thakur Nirmal K.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
internationale revue der gesamten hydrobiologie und hydrographie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1522-2632
pISSN - 0020-9309
DOI - 10.1002/iroh.19780630310
Subject(s) - clarias , catfish , juvenile , biology , larva , fish <actinopterygii> , odor , zoology , fishery , range (aeronautics) , ecology , neuroscience , materials science , composite material
The paper describes the food of Clarias batrachus (LINN.) occuring in derelict and swampy waters of the Bihar region of the Indian subcontinent. The study revealed that the early post‐larval stage is exclusively planktophagous while in the late post‐larval stage it starts including larger organisms in its diet. Juvenile stage is predominantly insectivorous. Though adults have a wide range of food preference, the insect material forms by far the most important source of their food. The fish did not appear to possess enough sense to sort out edible from non‐edible forms. March and September are the peak periods of relatively intensive feeding. The intensity of feeding in relation to the size of the fish showed that the average weight of food/g weight of the fish decreases with increasing weight of the fish.