Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Stomach contents and length-weight relationship of the white-spotted rabbitfish Siganus canaliculatus (Park, 1797) from the Arabian Sea coast of Oman

Volume 51 Issue 2

A. Al-Marzouqi, A. Al-Nahdi, N. Jayabalan and S. Al-Habsi

Abstract

The white-spotted rabbitfish Siganus canaliculatus feeds mainly on seaweeds and seagrass during most part of the year in the Omani waters. The presence of benthic invertebrates like polychaetes, small shrimps and bivalves in large sized fish appears to be accidental inclusions. Majority of mature fish occurred with empty stomach or with little food during spawning season. The monthly hepato-somatic index ranged from 1.1 to 1.73 in males and 1.06 to 1.8 in females and the values were generally higher prior to spawning months. The length-weight relationships of males and females differed significantly ( p < 0.05) and can be expressed as log W = -4.0395 + 2.6736 log L for males and log W = -4.3544 + 2.8048 log L for females.

Keywords

Siganus canaliculatus , food and feeding, hepato-somatic index, length- weight relationship

Date : 20-02-2010