Food and Feeding Habit of a Penaeid Prawn Metapeneopsis Stridulans (Alcock 1905)

6 Pages·1999·3 MB·

by  B G Kulkarni

FOOD AND FEEDING HABITOF APENAEID PRAWN
METAPENEOPSISSTRIDULANS(ALCOCK 1905)'
B.G. Kulkarni2 V.D. Deshmukh3 V.R. Kulkarni2
, ,
Keywords: Penaeidprawn,Metapeneopsisstridulans, foodandfeeding,Mumbai.
Metapeneopsis stridulans feeds on a variety offood items, viz. diatoms, foraminiferans
polychaetes,molluscs,crustaceansanddetritusconsistingofunidentifiabledecayingmatter
along with sand and mud. The speciesdoes notshow apreference foranyparticular food
item. There is no significant difference in the food habits among the various size groups
observed in the prawn. Monthwise feeding intensity for males and females shows males
with empty stomach to beprevalent in mostmonths.
Introduction Thegutcontents of673specimenswereanalysed
sexwise from January to December, 1992. 339
Foodandfeedinghabitshelptounderstand males, ranging from 50 to 90 mmintotallength
mm
the rate of growth, population concentration, and334 females, ranging from40 to 100 in
maturation of gonads and other metabolic total length, were analysed. The animals were
activities ofmarine organisms. They also help cut open and the foregut removed. These were
to find links in the food chain and predator - examined and the intensity of feeding was
prey relationship in the particular habitat where determinedby the degree ofstomach distension
these organisms occur. Some of the important andexpressedasfull,three-fourthsfull,half-full,
contributionsonfoodandfeedinghabitsofprawn one-fourth full and empty, depending on their
are of: Williams (1955) on a North American fullness. Further, foregutsweredissectedandthe
shrimp; Eldred et al. (1961) on Penaeus contents were observed qualitatively under a
duorarum Hall(1962)onthefoodofIndo-West microscope. The foregut of Metapeneopsis
,
Pacific penaeids, Dali (1967) on Australian stridulans is very minute and the gut contents
penaeidprawns.Tiewsetal. (1972)onPhilippine for the anterior and posterior proventriculus
shrimp and Wassenberg and Hill (1987) on the were, therefore, considered together.
natural diet ofTiger Prawn Penaeus monodon.
In spite of investigations on food and feeding Results
habits ofsome Indian marine prawns (Panikkar
and Menon 1956, Kunju 1967, George 1959 & Aqualitativeanalysisoftheproventriculus
1974, Rao 1988), of several neglected species, of 673 specimens ofMetapeneopsis stridulans
which are now gaining economic importance, revealedthepresenceofthefollowingfooditems:
remainuninvestigated.Tofillthislacuna,astudy Diatoms: These were present in the
of the food, feeding habits and the feeding stomach contents in small quantities, with mud
intensity of the penaeid prawn Metapeneopsis and detritus.
stridulansfromMumbaiwatersispresentedhere. Foraminiferans: The shells of foramini-
ferans were noticed in many guts and in some
MaterialandMethods cases the entire stomach was full of the
foraminiferan Elphidium sp.
Metapeneopsis stridulans were collected Polychaetes: These worms were easily
atSassoonDocklandingcentre(SouthMumbai). located bytheiriridescentsetaeandjaws, which
sometimes occupied the entire proventriculus.
'Accepted June, 1997 Molluscs: Fragments of gastropod shells
"TheInstituteofScience,Mumbai 400032.
CMFRI,ArmyandNavyBuilding,Mumbai 400032. andsometimesbivalveswere alsonoticedinthe
262 JOURNAL BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 96(2) AUG. 1999
,
FOODANDFEEDINGHABITOFAPENAEIDPRAWN
stomach. Crushed shells ofvarious forms were Monthwise intensity offeeding for males
observed. and females is given in Tables 2 and 3
Crustaceans: These formed an important respectively. The data shows that males with
and dominant constituent ofthe diet, consisting empty stomachsweremoreprevalentinmostof
mainly of amphipods, isopods and sometimes the months. However, the percentage of these
Acetessp. Crustaceanswere easilyidentifiedby prawns was higher in May (84%), October
thepresenceoftheirjointedappendages,plumose (77.27%) andSeptember(76%). Males with full
setae and stalked eyes. stomach were noticed during November -
Fish: Thoughnotoftenpresent, fishinthe February and July - August.
stomach could be identified from their scales, Females withempty stomachwere also
fragments ofbones and eye lens. encountered in most months except December.
Detritus: It formed an important item, The percentage ofempty stomachs was higher
consisting of unidentifiable decaying matter, in September (68%), May (65.38%) and
along with sand and mud. In general, sand November(73.33%).Femaleswithfullstomachs
predominated in the stomach ofMetapeneopsis wereobservedduringDecember(85%),January
stridulans. (41%) and August (33.33%).
Miscellaneous: Components seen were In order to study the relation of size to
bryozoans, shells, filamentous algae and hooks intensity of feeding, males and females were
ofunidentified animals. grouped into size groups of 10 mm. Sizewise
During the present investigation, 301 fullness of stomach shows (Table 4) that
prawns (44.73 DO) showed empty stomachs, prevalence ofempty stomach is 71.42% in the
mm
followed by one-fourth full stomach in 113 50-60 size-group, followed by 58.16% in
prawns (16.79 TO), full in 97 prawns (14.41 60-70 mm, 49.39% in 70- 80 mm and 25.67%
DO), three-fourths fullin 82prawns(12.18 DO) in 80-90 mm. Thus, the percentage of empty
and halffull in 80 prawns (11.89 TO). stomach in males decreases with increase in
Comparing male and female specimens length. Conversely, the percentages offull and
revealed that empty stomachs were more three-fourths full stomachs show an increasing
prevalent in males (47.20%) than in females trend with increase in length.
(42.22%). The percentage of females with full The size-related intensity of feeding in
stomachs was, however, greater (22.75%) than females and males showed similar trends, the
males(6.19%).Ingeneral,theintensityoffeeding full and three-fourths full stomach exhibiting
inmaleswas lowerthan infemales (Table 1). predominance with increase in length (Table 5).
Empty stomach among immature (40%),
FEEDINGINTENSITYITNabMlAeL1ESANDFEMALESOF early maturing (43.22%) and mature (43.05%)
M.STRIDULANS(% INPARENTHESES) prawnsisnearlyequal;thepredominanceoffull
and three-fourths full in females shows an
Sex Total Full V*Full ViFull V*Full Empty
increasing trend of feeding as they mature
Male 339 21 39 47 72 160 (Table6).
(6.19) (11.50) (13.86) (21.24) (47.20)
Discussion
Female 334 76 43 33 41 141
(22.75) (12.87) (9.88) (12.28) (42.22) Investigations have shown that penaeid
Total 673 97 82 80 113 301 prawnshavevariedfoodhabits. Gopalakrishnan
(1952) showed that Penaeus indicus is an
(14.41) (12.18) (11.89) (16.79) (44.73)
omnivorous species feeding on crustaceans and
JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 96(2), AUG. 1999 263
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JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 96(2), AUG. 1999 265
FOODANDFEEDINGHABITOFAPENAEIDPRAWN
Table6 polychaetes. Moreover, italsofeedson
FEEDING INTENSITY OF FEMALE M. STRIDULANS IN foraminiferans in the benthic region
DIFFERENTMATURITY STAGES(%INPARENTHESES)
and takes up diatoms, sand particles,
Maturity Full %Full ViFull V*Full Empty TotalNo. mud and detritus along with them.
stage ofPrawns These results agree with the
eexxaammiinneedd conclusionsofHall(1962)thatprawns
I 13 7 6 13 26 65 are carnivorous.
(20.00) (10.77) (09.23) (20.00) (40.00) Low feeding intensity, indicated
II 39 24 24 22 83 192 bytheprevalenceofempty, one-fourth
(20.31) (12.50) (12.50) (11.46) (43.23)
III 20 12 3 6 31 72 full and half-full stomachs during
(27.78) (16.67) (04.17) (08.33) (43.06) maturation andpre-spawning period is
IV 2 * * 2 widely known in fishes. In penaeid
(100.00)
prawns, major expansion of ovary
V 2 * * * 1 3
(66.67) (33.33) during maturation takes place in the
abdominalregion (Rao, 1968). Thegut
Total 76 43 33 41 141 334
of prawns is located in the
(22.75) (12.87) (09.88) (12.27) (42.21)
cephalotborax, in which ovarian expansion is
vegetablematter,whichformthebulkofthegut less; therefore, the prevalence of full and
contents. Panikkar and Menon (1956) have three-fourths full stomachs in mature female
concluded that the food of prawns consists of prawnsdoesnotseemtobe affected. Infact, the
detritus ofboth animal and plant origin, which females must feed intensively in orderto derive
accumulates at the bottom of the habitat. The more energy for reproductive output during
prawnsMetapenaeusdobsoni Penaeusstylifera maturation. The presence ofa largernumber of
,
and P. indicus, prefer area of muddy habitat full and three-fourths full stomachs in mature
indicatingtheirpreferencefordetritus.However, femalesandtheincreasingorderofintensitywith
Hall(1962)statedthatpenaeidsingeneralcannot maturity supports this view. Higher feeding
be considered as detritus feeders. The gut intensity, as indicated by a greater number of
contents ofMetapenaeus monoceros has shown full and three-fourth full stomachs during the
thepresenceofsmallcrustaceansalongwithsand breedingperiod, i.e., Decemberto January, also
grains and mud, while detritus was of less corroboratesthisview.
importance (George 1974).
The present study reveals that Acknowledgement
Metapeneopsis stridulans is not predominantly
a detritus feeder but a carnivore, feeding on The authors are thankful to the Director,
crustaceans, molluscs, small fishes and InstituteofScience,Mumbai,forencouragement.
References
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