A comparative study of food and feeding habits of Mullus surmuletus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Mullus barbatus (L. 1758) in the Benghazi coast - eastern Libyan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65405/vp5esj68Keywords:
Feeding habits, Mullus surmuletus, M. barbatus, eastern Libyan Mediterranean coastAbstract
The feeding habits of 450 specimens of Mullus surmuletus and 411 of Mullus barbatus (family: Mullidae), inhabiting Benghazi Mediterranean coast, were studied monthly from January to December 2022. The annual diet composition, monthly variations in the diet composition, the variations of diet with length and the intensity of feeding were studied. Mullus surmuletus feed on a wide variety of prey types: shrimp (51.9%) supplemented by amphipoda (17.3%), decapoda (10.2%), polychaeta (7.9%), isopoda (5.8%), Bivalvia (1.9%) and others (5.1%). In M. barbatus feed mainly on shrimp (47.9%) supplemented by decapoda (17.5%), amphipoda (16.4%), bivalvia (5.9%), polychaeta (5.1%), isopoda (4.2%), and others (3.1%). Shrimp, amphipoda, decapoda and polychaeta were found in all year round and in all length groups for M. surmullus. Shrimp, and decapoda were found in all year round and in all length groups for M. barbatus. In the present study shrimp, amphipoda and decapoda increased as the size decreased while polychaeta, isopoda, bivalvia and others increased as the fish size increased for M. surmuletus. While, shrimp, amphipoda and decapoda increased as the size increased while bivalvia and polychaeta, decreased as the fish size increased for M. barbatus. The feeding activities were quite high during winter (82.5%) and autumn (68.0%). There are minimal rate of feeding intensity recorded in spring (28.3%) and summer (44.7%) for M. surmuletus and the feeding activities were quite high during winter (68.5%), summer (60.5%) and autumn (65.1%). There are minimal rate of feeding intensity recorded in spring (36.1%) for M. barbatus.
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