Importance Of Gut Content Analysis Of Fish

Stomach content analysis provides important insight into fish feeding patterns. Feeding of fish represents an integration of many important ecological components that included behaviour, condition, habitat use, energy intake and inter/intra specific interactions, etc. Accurate description of fish diets and feeding habits also provides the basis for understanding trophic interactions in aquatic food webs. Conceptually, trophic relations of fishes begin with foods and feeding behaviour of individuals or species. Diet composition analysis can be used to evaluate effects of ontogeny, or the establishment of exotic species (Gelwick & Matthews 2006; Chipps & Garvey 2007). The history of gut content analysis is characterised by a shift from a basic …show more content…
But, one may be interested in more complex questions. Gut content analysis makes possible to answer questions, such as determining the relative importance of different food types to fish nutrition, quantifying the consumption rate of individual prey types, or understanding foraging trade-offs associated with predator avoidance. Assessment of food habits is also an important aspect of fisheries management and our ability to manage prey resources, increasing fish production and manipulating forage fish populations to enhance sport fisheries (De Vries & Stein 1990; Kamler & Pope 2001; Pikitch et al. 2004; Chipps & Garvey 2007). In summary, stomach content analysis is used in understanding of many aspects of fish ecology on individual, population, community and ecosystem levels. It helps us study and explain specific problems of interactions, evolution, speciation, invasions and fishery management nature protection. As a result, stomach content studies can be incorporated into a variety of different research objectives. Specifically, the real application involves a range of topics, such