A survey on feeding of Trichiurus lepturus Linnaeus, 1758 in Hormozgan Province waters

Abstract

Introduction: Trichiurus lepturus is one of the most important and commercial species in
the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea. In order to come up with the responsible fishing pattern,
there was a need to identify some of the biological characteristics including feeding.
Materials & Methods: Required data related to different fishing methods were collected
randomly from April 2019 to March 2020 from six major artisanal fish-landing sites in
Hormozgan Province (Bandar Parsian, Bandar Kong, Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas, Bandar
Sirik and Bandar Jask).
Results: The research on stomachs of largehead hairtail fish showed that 41% of them in
empty, 35% in full and 24% in half-full condition. The major food groups were Osteichthyes,
Crustacea and Cephalopoda. Basic foods in Osteichthyes group were Myctophidae,
Engraulidae and Clupeidae. Determining the full index degree of stomach showed that the
highest full index belonged to the February and the lowest full index was in the months of
July and October. The average Vacuity Index was equal to 41.38, which showed that this
fish is one of the fish with average nutrition. Prey Occurrence Index showed that the highest
relative frequency observed was related to Myctophidae, Engraulidae and Clupeidae.
Conclusion: Probably, the type of feeding of largehead hairtail fish depends on the fishes
available in each area.