Fecundity and feeding of Barbus Xanthopterus in Karkheh river and Hoor-Al-Azim marsh

Abstract

In regarding to study the fecundity and feeding behaviour of Barbus xanthopterus in Karkheh river and Hoor-al-Azim marsh, 393 specimens of this species were collected monthly by drift gillnet, set net and castnet from October 1996 to September 1997. The bottom substrate of marsh was silty-clay and in some points it was sandy. Seventeen types of benthic invertebrates from 6 orders were identified, among which insects had the highest density and diversity. Maximum and minimum absolute fecundity was 549211±7295 and 136924±652 and for relative fecundity they were 142.53±1.95 and 18.886±0.O9 for each gram of body weight, respectively. Absolute and relative fecundity showed the highest correlation with girth and fork length, respectively. Feeding intensity did not show a regular trend and intestine fullness in river fishes is more than that of Hoor-al-Azim which was an indicative of active feeding in Hoor-al-Azim and migration to the Karkheh river for spawning. Main food item was invertebrates and plants and relative index of intestine and its contents showed that B. xanthopterus is an omnivorous species.