Food and feeding of portunus (Portunus) sanguinolentus (Herbst) and portunus (Portunus) pelagicus (Linnaeus) (Berachyura: portunidae) along karnataka coast

摘要

The diet of Portunus (Portunus) sanguinolentus and P.(P.) pelagicus mainly consisted of crustaceans, fishes, molluscs, large quantity of unidentified matter and debris. Quantitative analysis of the gut contents revealed that crustaceans contributed to 47.1/100 and 42.6/100, fish remains 29.4/100, molluscs 5.7/100 and 20/100, detritus 4.9/100 and 4.7/100 respec5ively of the gut content by volume in both species respectively. The study indicated that thee crabs are primarily predators of sessile and slow moving benthic macro invertebrates. P.(P.) pelagicus had a strong preference for bivalves as food.