International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Research

Authors
Aysha Aziz Faridi, Md. Serajuddin, Md. Moshahid A Rizvi

Abstract
Spiny eel (Mastacembelus armatus) is a commercially important freshwater teleostean fish. It is a popular table fish due to its delicious taste and high nutritive value. Monthly samples of fish were collected from NCR region from January to December 2016. Male shows a slight numerical superiority over female. Well-developed dentition, absence of gill rakers, strongly built stomach and short intestine together with the dominance of animal matter in the gut contents, suggested the carnivorous and active predatory habits of M.armatus. Body width in all life stages of M.armatus was about 5.56/of total body length, resulting in a slender body. This also pointed towards an active mobile lifestyle suited to its predatory nature. The fish fed on varieties of food items viz. fish, aquatic insects, crustaceans, molluscs, annelids, debris and mud that respectively obtained as 16.60, 14.75, 10.78, 8.50, 8.28, and 13.52 percent in average. During the study period 80.94% fish showed active feeding.