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Abstract

Intertidal mudflats occupy a significant component of the total estuarine habitat available to fishes as nursery and foraging grounds. In this study, fifteen sites were randomly explored along three estuarine rivers in Indian Sundarbans and 27 fish species, were recorded. Upon analysis of prey preferences, they were categorized into different trophic types. A comparative study of the digestive physiology of 10 carnivorous species as functional analogues was carried out in order to find out relationship between digestive enzyme activity and trophic niche segregation among them. Rarefaction curves for stomach content analysis indicated diverse nature of prey preferences among different species. A dendrogram based on prey diversity was constructed through cluster analysis. Another dendrogram was constructed based on enzymes (i.e. α-amylase, invertase, cellulose, alkaline protease and pepsin) which were measured from liver, stomach and intestine of ten carnivorous species. A comparison of the two dendrograms did not reflect any positive relationship between prey preferences and digestive enzymes. It was, therefore, concluded that enzyme patterns were more affected by phylogeny rather than adaptability. No clear predominance among digestive enzymes was observed in relation to food, suggesting that the organic matter of animal origin was utilized non-selectively by these fishes since the quality and variety of available food were subjected to change and over time in such a dynamic environment.

Influence of fishmeal-replaced diet on nutrient digestibility, digestive enzyme activity, and whole-body fatty acid profile of Indian major carp, Cirrhinus mrigala

“…In the present study, both the Table 7 Blood biochemical constituents of C. mrigala fingerlings fed experimental diets feeds contain an equal amount of carbohydrate, which could be the reason for equal amylase activities in C. mrigala fed both the feeds. Digestive enzymes are very much dependant on feed composition and age/or stage of development (Chaudhuri, Mukherjee, & Homechaudhuri, 2012;Cousin, Laurencin, & Gabaudan, 1987). The stage of growth of fish used for the present experiment was the same and the equal activities of the digestive enzymes in C. mrigala fed both the diets suggested that C. mrigala utilized the nutrients irrespective of the source.…”

Studies on the feeding habit and digestive enzyme activities in three small indigenous fish species from Assam, India

“…Proteases are proteolytic enzymes that catalyze the breakdown of the larger protein molecules into smaller fragments and eventually to their component amino acid. Lower protease activities are generally reported in herbivorous and omnivorous fish species compared to carnivorous species (Chan et al 2004;Chaudhuri et al 2012). In the current study, high protease activity was observed in M. tengara compared to others.…”

Study of digestive enzymes in marine fish, Terapon jarbua, from Pakistan

“…In fact, fishes such as Terapon jarbua do not possesses any of prominent gut enzyme that is indicative of its generalized voracious habit. These devoured a great variety of food items, that generalized its implausible achievement in the maximal consumption of estuarine territory (Chaudhuri et al, 2012). Fish from marine habitat are thought to be as a source of great quality fatty acids and proteins (Cardoso et al, 2019).…”