Analysis of the food and feeding habit of fresh water carnivorous fish Wallago attu (Bloch & Sneider, 1801) collected from the local fish markets of Agartala, Tripura

Abstract

Wallago attu (Bloch & Sneider, 1801), which is popularly known as freshwater shark is a carnivorous fish belong to the family Siluridae. It is locally known as boal in different places of Agartala, Tripura. A total of 30 specimens including male and female of fish species of Wallago attu (Bloch & Sneider, 1801) were collected during the different months from 2023 to 2024. Following the measurements of length and weight of the studied fish species the Relative gut length was also found out after measuring the gut lengths of the studied fish species. The relative gut length value which is less than one show the carnivorous nature of Wallago attu (Bloch & Sneider, 1801). After this the fish specimens were dissected and the gut contents were studied, where the gut contents were Puntius sp., Telapia sp., small fishes, Gudusia chapra, Amblypharyngodon mola, some crustaceans, molluscs etc. And among the plant matter many algal contents were found e.g. Spirogyra sp. The above mentioned gut contents indicates the carnivorous nature of Wallago attu (Bloch & Sneider, 1801).