Food and feeding of Portunus (Portunus) sanguinolentus (Herbst) and Portunus (Portunus) pelagicus (Linnaeus) (Brachyura: Portunidae) along Karnataka coast

摘要

The diet of Portunus (Portunus) sanguinolentus and P.(P.) pelagicus Jmlin1y consisted of crustaceanudFishes, molluscs, large quantity of unidentified matter and debris. Quantitative analysis of the gut contentsudrevealed that crustaceans contributed to 47.1% and 42.6 %, fish remains 29.0 % and 20.4 %. molluscsud5.7% and 20.0 % detritus 4.9 % and 4.7 % respectively of the gut content by volume in both speciesudrespectively. The study indicated that these crabs are primarily predators of sessile and slow moving benthic macro invertebrates.