Feeding habits of green tiger prawn, Penaeus semisulcatus (De Hann, 1848) in the coastal waters of the Persian Gulf (Hormozgan Province)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the diet of the green tiger prawn, Penaeus semisulcatus for 12 months from January to December 2018 in the coastal waters of Hormozgan province. During this period, the intestinal contents of 673 of the two morphotypes of green tiger prawn including banding (417) and non-banding (256) were examined by the volumetric method. The results showed that the gut diet composition of both includes diatoms, dinoflagellates, crustaceans, mollusks, foraminifera, worms, and digestive material. There was no significant difference in the diet of the two types and males and females of green tiger prawns. Also, the study of the FP index showed that green tiger prawns were voracious creatures and their feed preference in female and male bonding was crustaceans 56% and 46% and 27% and 30% in diatoms, respectively, and in non-bonding types as well 65% and 57% in crustaceans and were 17% and 20% in diatoms respectively. Also, feed preferences in the next priorities for different sexes of both morphotypes included foraminifera, worms, unknown digestive substances, mollusks, and dinoflagellates with different percentages, respectively. There was a significant difference in the type of diet in different size classes so after crustaceans, diatoms were identified as the next preferred food in younger prawn diatoms and in older shrimp. The study of nutrition in different seasons of the year showed that crustaceans had the highest frequency and food preference in both morphotypes in all seasons and diatoms in summer, although the results related to the type and preference of food seasonally and based on the sex of shrimp showed no significant difference (P> 0.05).