EVALUATION OF FEEDING INDICES TO ANALYSE THE FOOD PREFERENCE AND FEEDING RATE OF MACROBRACHIUM ASSAMENSE PENINSULARE (TIWARI, 1958) FROM RAWASAN STREAM OF GARHWAL, CENTRAL HIMALAYA, INDIA

• Published in: Journal of Mountain Research Vol. 15; no. 1
• Main Authors: Kumar, Koshal, Rawat Rana, Anita, Bhanu Kotnala, Chandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.12.2020
• ISSN: 0974-3030; 2582-5011
• DOI: 10.51220/jmr.v15i1.8

In this paper the feeding index (FI), Gastro somatic index (GaSI) and Food Prevalence Index (FPI) of freshwater prawn Macrobrachium assamense peninsulare were evaluated to assess the quantity and quality of food preferred by it in the Rawasan stream. A total of 401 prawns were collected during a span of two years from five selected sites in the Rawasan stream of Garhwal in Central Himalaya, India from August 2013 to July 2015. Collected prawns were in the size range of 20-75 mm in males and 24-65 mm in females in total length. The stomach contents of 10 collected specimens were examined monthly and observed that 35% of the stomach was full or semifull and 15% stomach were empty. The highest Gastro somatic value 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 sexes and is repeated in cyclic patterns each year. More or less a similar trend was reported in the feeding index value during the study which indicates a significant relationship between feeding intensity and Gastro somatic index. The highest Food Prevalence Index (FPI) was seen as fragments of animal matter in both sexes, which was (88.48) in male and (58.26) in female prawns and the lowest FPI value was sand and debris (7.9 and 5.7) in male and female prawn respectively. The main food items were the fragment of plants as well as animals, diatoms, algae, and sand. Overall, the results show that this prawn is selectively abstemious.