EVALUATION OF FEEDING INDICES TO UNDERSTAND THE FEEDING RATE AND FOOD
PREFERENCE OF Macrobrachium assamense peninsulare IN THE RAWASAN STREAM,
UTTARAKHAND, INDIA
Abstract
Abstract: In this paper the feeding index (FI), Gastro somatic index
(GaSI) and Food Prevalence Index (FPI) of freshwater prawn M. assamense
peninsulare were evaluated to assess the quantity and kind of food which
this prawn consumes in the Rawasan stream. A total of 401 prawns were
collected for an interval of two years form five selected site in
Rawasan stream of Garhwal in Central Himalaya, India from August 2013 to
July 2015. Collected prawn was in the size range of 20-75 mm in male and
24-65 mm in female in total length during the study period. The stomach
contents of 10 collected specimens were examined monthly and observed
that 35% of the stomach was full or semi-full and 15% stomach were
empty. Highest Gastro somatic value (Mean±SE) was obtained 2.95±0.80
during June in the male and 3.25±0.44 during May in the female. After
that, it gradually decreased in both the sex and this repeated in cyclic
pattern each year. More or less a similar trend was reported in the
feeding index value during the study indicate a significant relationship
between feeding intensity and Gastro somatic index. Highest Food
Prevalence Index (FPI) was seen in fragment of animals in both sex,
which was (88.48) in male and (58.26) in female prawn and lowest FPI
value in sand debris 7.9 and 5.7 in male & female prawn respectively.
Main food items were fragment of plants & animal, diatoms, algae, and
sand. In overall, the results show that this prawn is selectively
abstemious