Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Food and feeding habits, gastrosomatic index and gonado-somatic index of Scylla serrata from Hooghly- Matlah estuary of West Bengal, India

Volume 60 Issue 1

Moohinor Alam Khan, Sudhir Kumar Das and Dibakar Bhakta

10.6024/jmbai.2018.60.1.1994-02

Abstract

Food and feeding habits, gastro-somatic index and gonado-somatic index of Scylla serrata (Forsskål, 1775) were studied for a period of one year from the Hooghly-Matlah estuary. It was found that the crab mainly feeds on animal matters and categorized as carni-omnivore. The gut contents analysis showed that crustacean contributed maximum share with 41.93%, followed by fishes (32.94%), molluscs (12.56%), detritus (7.84%) and miscellaneous items (4.73%). Gastro-somatic index of male crab was varied from minimum of 0.984 (May) to maximum of 5.561(January) and that of female crab varied from 0.642 (May) to 5.621 (February). There was significant variation (P<0.05) in GaSI values in both the sexes and in different months. The gonado-somatic index (GnSI) was varied from 2.53 to 8.35. Two dominant peaks of gonado-somatic index were recorded during April-May and September-October. There was significant variation (P<0.05) in GnSI values between two sexes. 

Keywords

Scylla serrata, food and feeding habits, gastro-somatic index, gonado-somatic index.

Date : 31-07-2018