एक्वाकल्चर अनुसंधान एवं विकास जर्नल

अमूर्त

Growth, Food and Feeding Habits of Bagrus bayad and Bagrus docmac Inhibiting Muess Channel, Sharkia Province, Egypt

El-Drawany MA and Elnagar WG

The present study aims to investigate the age and growth parameters as well as food and feeding habits of Bagrus bayad (Forskal, 1775) and Bagrus docmac (Forskal, 1775), belonging to the family Bagridae in the Muess Channel of Sharkia Province, Egypt. The relationship between total fish length and vertebra radius is described by straight line equations: L=6.714 + 13.88V and L=8.841 + 10.7 V for both studied species, respectively. The equations of the length-weight relationship for both studied species are expressed as:

W=0.0057 X L3.1 for Bagrus bayad

W=0.0068 X L3.05 for Bagrus docmac

The vertebrae were used to estimate the growth parameters of von Bertalanffy,s equation. It is found that the L∞=87 cm, K=0.159 1/y and to=-1.25 years for B. bayad and L∞=89 cm, K=0.169 1/y and to=-1.275 years for B. docmac. Food and feeding habits of the two cat fish species were also studied through analysis of their stomach contents. B. docmac feeds mainly on invertebrates represented in shrimps, amphipoda, bivalvia and cephallopoda, while the most important food items of B.bayad are fish especially from Telapins and Clarias spp., together with parts of unidentified fishes.