The feeding strategy of the Caspian Seakutum (Rutilus frisii kutum Kamensky, 1901)

This study aimed to identify the food items of Rutilus frisii kutum and the feeding intensity for this species was performed in the southern coast of the Caspian Sea.Sampling was carried out at 6 times from late March 2012 until late May 2013 in the distribution areas of kutum (less than 60 meter depths in the southern coast of the Caspian Sea) and 193 fish were studied for the contents of the digestive tract. The average total length and total weight of samples which were 36.9 ± 8.5 cm and 562.9±353.2 g, respectively. The results of this study showed that kutum are generally fed from Cerastorderma sp. and Balanus sp. as the presence frequency of Balanus sp. was more than Cerastorderma sp., but the amount of its consumption was less than Cerastorderma sp. In order of importance after the Bivalvia, Gastropoda, Crabs, Fish eggs, Filamentous algae were present in kutum GI. The feedingintensity and food strategy of this species are exposed to alter in term of gender, sampling periods and longitudinal length groups. Thus, the feedingintensity in males was more than females and the length groups in smaller than 30 cm was more than in higher length groups of 30 cm (P