Feeding Types of Fish in Seagrass Beds in Khung Kraben Bay Area, Chanthaburi Province

Abstract

In this research investigation, the researchers study the feeding types of fish in the seagrass beds in the Khung Kraben Bay (KKB) area, Chanthaburi province. There were thirty-eight fish species in the 826 specimens that were collected between January 2017 and January 2018. It was found that the food types that fish consumed could be divided into four major types: animals; plants; planktons; and detritus. These could be divided into twenty-five minor groups of food. The dominant food items in each type mostly consumed by fish were shrimps, seagrass, copepods, and sediments. The highest proportion of fish in the sample fish population from the seagrass beds in the KKB area were carnivorous fish (65-79 percent).
The proportion of food consumed by the fish in each area studied could be divided into two groups of feeding types based on the distribution of the seagrass. In the area of seagrass distribution were fish consuming animals and plants. In the area with no distribution of seagrass there were mainly fish consuming animals and detritus. The gut fullness index (FL) showed an average of 5.61 ± 2.67. It was also found that the FL was higher during the ebb tide than during the high tide. This means that the fish coming to the KKB utilized seagrass beds as the source of food supply.