BEHAVIOURAL BIOLOGY OF THE FISH BARBUS PUTITORA (MAH SEER)

Abstract

The present investigations were aimed initially a t t he p r imar y productivity o f the Ramli s tream used for supp ly i ng r unn i ng wa t e r to exper i menta l ponds employed to study the breeding biology and be haviour of the fish Barbus putitora (Mahseer). These investigations are important as Ma hseer is economi cally impo r tant fish b u t very diff i c ul t to breed. It is of utmos t importance to know ~ -biotic and biot i c fac tors operating and contr olling a particular fauna. Pre s ent invest igations s how t h a t a t emperature of 13° - 36°C and di s solved oxygen (2 . 7 - 7 . 9 ppl) are important con trollina factors in the breeding of this fis h. Besides, planktonjc fauna predated upon by the f ish has been described , such as Cyclops magnu s , Di sptomus sp . , Moina brachi ta ta , Chydorus ,wa Ii s . Other d - biotic factors like pH and phosphate contents ' -" r e described fo r refer e nc e . Feeding behav iour ~ epe ndent on the selective r e sponses of the f i s h towards the effective stimuli. The fish r esponds t o the r eport o ire o f visual stimu li such as si ze , s ha pe, c olo u r and f r e q u e ncy o f moveme nt . The orientation is influenced by dorsal light reaction and is operated by tropotaxis , te l otaxis and m' ~otaxis . The investigations on fish food show that 35% protein in the diet are best suited for adequate growth and economic breeding o f this fish . Studi es on t he behavioura l ener getics show that protean behaviour is used by the fish as a postural device for energy conservat i on . Induced spawning was successf ully experime nted in t he fish B. putitora.