Food And Feeding Habits Of Schizothorax Niger In Dal-Lake,From Kashmir

The food and feeding habits of Schizothorax niger in Dal-lake was studied by examining guts collected throughout the year.The fish samples used in the study was within the range of 200mm to 340mm in total length and weight ranging from 100g to 424g in weight and the sampling duration was from March 2021 to April 2022.During the analysis the food and feeding habits of S.niger it was concluded that the fish is herbivorous.Its food mainly consists of plant matter 67.53% and 23.43% animal matter. Green algae, which made up around 30.01% of all food items, was the main contributor to the plant food. It was found to be at its highest (32.64%) in July and at its lowest (10.18%) in January. The primary source of animal food was crustaceans, which accounted for 16.20% of all food items. The highest percentage of crustaceans was reported in the month of February (30%), while the lowest percentage was recorded in the month of July (9%).