Study on prey preference of two indigenous larvivorous fish Trichogaster fasciata and Puntius sophore
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2023.v08.n07.012Keywords:
Prey preference, larvivorous fish, mosquito control, alternative food, selectivity indexAbstract
The most effective way to control mosquito populations is through biological control methods, among them, fishes are the top contenders as natural agents to manage mosquito larvae. Fishes not only consume mosquito larvae efficiently but also readily adapt to new environmental conditions, reproduce rapidly and effectively control mosquito breeding in a self-sustaining manner. In present study two easily available indigenous fishes Trichogaster fasciata and Puntius sophore were considered to evaluate the feeding preference and the effect of alternative prey on larval feeding efficacy. For food preference test, mosquito larvae, mosquito pupae, chironomid larvae, daphnia and artificial fish food were considered. The live foods were gathered from the possible water lodging areas and artificial foods from aquarium shops. Experiments were conducted by providing equal number of different food items - mosquito larvae, mosquito pupae, chironomid larvae, daphnia and artificial fish food in the same container. Both the fish prefer maximum consumption of live and wriggly food than artificial stationery food. All length sizes of Puntius sophore consumed a maximum number of chironomid larvae, while Trichogaster fasciata prefer to consume mosquito larvae as the top choice. In both fish, as increasing length size, consumption rate of food increases significantly. Tested prey consumption data of both fishes were statistically represented by Mean±SD and significance differences of means was analysed by ANOVA. The food preferences of both fish directly depend on their feeding habits.
References
Aditya, G., Pal, S., Saha, N., Saha, G.K. (2012): Efficacy of indigenous larvivorous fishes against Culex quinquefasciatus in the presence of alternative prey: Implication for biological control. Journal of Vector Borne Diseases, 49: 217-225.
Anyaele, O. and Obembe, A. (2011): Comparative studies of the feeding capacity and preference of Aphyosemion gularis (Boulenger 1901) on some aquatic macroinvertebrates. Journal of Vector Borne Diseases, 48: 231-235.
Bay, E.C. and Self, L.S. (1972): Observation of the guppy, Poecilia reticulate Peters, in Culex pipiens fatigans breeding sites in Bangkok, Rangoon and Taipei. Bulletin of the World Health Organisation, 46(3), 407-416.
Bhattacharjee, I. and Chandra, G. (2016): Food and feeding habits of three air-breathing fish in its natural habitat. International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies, 4(3): 586-589
Chakraborty, R.K., Sen, T., Dutta, A., Nair, M.R.V. and Rao, C.K. (1976): Note on screening of some indigenous fishes on predatory activity against Culex pipiens fatigans larvae. Journal of Communicable Diseases, 8: 84.
Chandra, G., Bhattacharjee, I., Chatterjee, S.N., Ghosh, A. (2008): Mosquito control by larvivorous fish. Indian Journal of Medical Research, 127:13-27.
Crowder, L.B. (1990): Community ecology. In: Schreck, C.B. and Moyle, P.B. (Eds.). Methods for fish biology. American Fisheries Society. Bathesda, Maryland, pp. 609-627.
Cynthia, D.M. and Dhivya, R. (2018): In vitro studies on the biocontrol potential of fish species Carassius auratus against mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus. International Journal of Advance Research and innovative Ideas in Education, 4(4), 343-349.
Das, S.K. (2012): A preliminary note on assessment of a few indigenous ornamental fishes of Northeast India as potential predators of mosquito larvae. Indian Journal of Hill Farming, 25(1), 63-65.
Froese, R. and Pauly, D. (2023): Fish Base. World Wide Web Electronic Publication. www.fishbase.org.
Ghosh, A., Bhattacharjee, I., Ganguly, M., Mondal, S. and Chandra, G. (2004): Efficacy of some common aquarium fishes as biocontrol agent of preadult mosquitoes. Buletin Penelitian Kesehatan, 32(3), 144-149.
Ghosh, S.K., Tiwari, S.N., Sathyanarayan, T.S., Sampath, T.R., Sharma, V.P., Nanda, N., Joshi, H., Adak, T. and Subbarao, S.K. (2005): Larvivorous fish in wells target the malaria vector sibling species of the Anopheles culicifacies complex in villages in Karnataka, India. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 99: 101-105.
Gittleman, S.H. (1978): Optimum diet and body size in back-swimmers (Heteroptera: Notonectidae, plecidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 71(5): 737-747.
Gupta, S. and Banerjee, S. (2009): Food preference of goldfish Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) and its potential in mosquito control. Electronic Journal of Ichthyology, 2: 47-58.
Gupta, S. and Banerjee, S. (2013): Comparative assessment of mosquito biocontrol efficiency between guppy (Poecilia reticulata) and panchax minnow (Aplocheilus panchax). Bioscience Discovery, 4(1): 89-95.
Gupta, S., Tripathi M. and Mishra, R.P. (2018): Analysis of food preference of molly fish (Poecilia sphenops) with special reference towards mosquito larvae. Asian Journal of Experimental Sciences, 32(1): 23-28.
Jayapriya, G. and Shobha, G.F. (2014): Evaluation of Gambusia affinis and Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis as Culex quinquefasciatus control agents. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, 2: 121-125.
Jayaram, K.C. (1999): The fresh water fishes of Indian region. Narendra Publishing House, New Delhi, 21.
Jayasree M. and Panicker, K.N. (1992): Larvivorous potential of some indigenous fishes of Sherthallai region with special reference to their efficacy in control of mansonioides. Indian Journal of Medical Research (A), 95, 195-199.
Manna, B., Aditya, G. and Banerjee, S. (2008): Vulnerability of the mosquito larvae to the guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in the presence of alternative preys. Journal of Vector Borne Diseases, 45: 200-206.
Manna, B., Aditya, G. and Banerjee, S. (2011): Habitat heterogeneity and prey selection of Aplocheilus panchax: an indigenous larvivorous fish. Journal of Vector Borne Diseases, 48: 144.
Menon, A.G.K. (1977): Fish and Malaria control. Science & Culture. 43: 110-114.
Menon, A.G.K. (1991): Indigenous larvivorous fishes of India. Eds. Sharma, V.P. (Malaria Research Centre, ICMR, Delhi), 1-66.
Myers, G.S. (1965): Gambusia. The fish destroyer. Tropical Fish Hobbyist, 31-32:53-54.
Nath, P. and Dey, S.C. (2000): Fish and Fisheries of North Eastern India (Arunachal Pradesh), Narendra Publishing House (New Delhi), 217.
Noreen, M., Arijo, A.G., Ahmad, L., Sethar, A., Leghari, M.F., Bhutto, M.B., Leghari, I.H., Memon, K.H., Shahani, S., Vistro, W.A., Sethar, G.H. and Khan, N. (2017): Biological control of mosquito larvae using edible fish. International Journal of Innovative and Applied Research, 5(8): 1-6.
Phukon, H.K. and Biswas, S.P. (2013): An Investigation on Larvicidal Efficacy of some Indigenous Fish Species of Assam, India. Advances in Bioresearch, 4(3): 22-25.
Sharma R.C., Gupta, D.K. and Sharma V.P. (1987): Studies on the role of indigenous fishes in the control of mosquito breeding. Indian Journal of Malariology, 24(1), 73-77.
Sharma, V.P. (1994): Role of fishes in vector control in India. In: Sharma, V.P. and Ghosh, A. (Eds.). Larvivorous fishes of inland ecosystems: Proceedings of the MRC-CICFRI workshop, New Delhi, Delhi: Malaria Research Centre (ICMR). 1989; 1-19.
Singh, P. and Patel, V.P. (2013): Study of some indigenous fishes with special reference to biological control of malaria. International Journal of Scientific Research, 2(7): 531-532.
Singh, R.B., Marwah, S.M., Gaur, S.D. and Agarwal, G.P. (1980). Feeding capacity of fish Colisa fasciatus (Bloch and Schn) to the Culex pipiens fatigans larvae. Indian Journal of Preventive & Social Medicine, 11(1): 35-38.
Surendran, S.N., Kajatheepan, A., Jude, P.J. and Ramasamy, R. (2008): Use of tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, for the control of mosquito breeding in water storage tanks in the Jaffana district of Srilanka. Tropical Medical Health, 36(2): 107-110.
Talwar, P.K. and Jhingran, A.G. (1991): Inland fishes Vol. 1 and 2, Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
