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¹ Cochin University of Science and Technology, Dept. of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, 682016, Kerala, India
² Cochin University of Science and Technology, Dept of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, Kerala, India DOI : 10.4194/1303-2712-v11_4_14 Viewed : 3877 - Downloaded : 14792 The spotted scat (Scatophagus argus) is widely distributed throughout Indo Pacific basin. This species is valuable brackish water aquarium fish and an important food fish in parts of its range. A study on the feeding habits, condition factor and muscle biochemical composition was carried out. The present study on the food and feeding revealed that algae and detritus dominated the gut contents of the fish. Spotted scat showed flexibility in their feeding ecology and food selection was based on relative abundance of prey. The gut contents showed an ontogenetic shift in diet with an increase in length. The results showed that the relative length of gut is 3.1 (ranging from 2.14 to 3.96) which is commonly considered normal for an omnivorous fish. The muscle biochemical composition of the fish, S. argus was studied. It showed variation with season in its proximal composition. Keywords : Scatophagus, condition factor, spotted scat, omnivorous