Food and feeding pattern of Channa punctatus in two different habitats at Tarai region of Uttarakhand.

ABSTRACT

A comparative study was conducted for the food items and feeding pattern of Channa punctatus in pond environment and in reservoir of Tarai region in Uttarakhand state.Observation was made for body length, gut length, food and feeding frequency and qualitative and quantitative analysis of gut content.Both, body length and gut length were in higher side with a ratio of 12.1 for the natural fish stock of reservoir. Gut content mainly consists of crustacean, insects, mollusks, small fishes and semi-digested material. There was significant difference for the percent occurrence of the food items (p < 0.01) of natural stock of reservoir and pond reared stock. The study revealed that seasonal variability of natural food items in different habitats and their biological diversity put impacts on the biological needs in terms of food and feeding pattern of the same fish species.