Feeding regime of Pomadasys kaakan in the Persian Gulf (Hormuzgan province waters)

We Studied feeding regime of Javelin grunt (Pomadasys kaakan) from the coastal waters of Persian Gulf (Hormuzgan province) from November 2005 to September 2006. A total of 227 specimens were collected seasonally (twice per each season). For this aim, different feeding factors such as Food preference, Contents Void Index, Stomach fullness index, Relative Length Gut were measured. Stomach or Contents Void Index (CV or VI) was obtained at 63.4% and showed that Javelin grunt is relatively low feeder (frugal). Furthermore, results of stomach void index specified that Javelin grunt has median feeding in summer and winter seasons, meanwhile in spring and autumn has relatively frugal. Relative Length Gut (RLG) of this species was calculated 0.7 and shows that Javelin grunt is carnivorous fish. Different kinds of food contents were identified in gut consist of: swimmer crab, scorpion crab, bony fishes, asteroids, bivalves, gastropods, cephalopods, shrimps and sea weeds. Food preference was obtained regulatory for crustacean (77.7), fishes (32.1), Mollusks (28.6) and Echinoderms (18.8). Swimmer crab in crustaceans group with FP more than 50% was identified as main food and scorpion crab with FP about 25% was as secondary food. Crab (50.9) in crustacean group, goatfish (family Mullidae) in bony fishes group, Asteroid in echinoderms group and Bivalve in mollusks group had the most food preference in each food group. This records indicated that crab and asteroid in autumn and spring, crab and boney fishes in winter and scorpion crab in summer had the most food preference in each season.