fishfishfish
20-04-2005, 03:42 PM
There's an interesting paper in Environmental Biology of Fishes (abstract below) which refers to Channa limbata. Does anyone know whether this is valid, or not?
I can't find any reference to it and I am wondering whether it might in fact be a synonym for C. gachua. Ophiocephalus limbatus Cuvier 1831 is a junior synonym of it.
Cheers,
Matt
Ontogenetic changes in morphology and diet in the snakehead, Channa limbata, a predatory fish in western Thailand
Belinda M.S. Ward-Campbell1 Contact Information and F. William H. Beamish1
(1) Department of Biology, Burapha University, 20131, Saen, Chonburi, Thailand
Received: 25 January 2004 Accepted: 19 May 2004
Synopsis We examined the diet of Channa limbata, a predatory fish from western Thailand, in relation to mass, mouth and body morphology and intestine length. The cluster analysis we performed on the prey-specific abundance values of the dietary items yielded four size-classes based on diet. There was a shift from detritus and smaller benthic invertebrates in the diet of the first size class, to a mainly piscivorous diet in the fourth size-class as well as a steep increase in mass at the onset of piscivory. We found no significant change in relative intestine length with ontogeny, and the average relative intestine length value for C. limbata indicated primarily carnivorous feeding habits throughout ontogeny. Ontogenetic changes in mouth dimensions account primarily for the shift in diet, however the ontogenetic change in body morphology is of secondary importance.
I can't find any reference to it and I am wondering whether it might in fact be a synonym for C. gachua. Ophiocephalus limbatus Cuvier 1831 is a junior synonym of it.
Cheers,
Matt
Ontogenetic changes in morphology and diet in the snakehead, Channa limbata, a predatory fish in western Thailand
Belinda M.S. Ward-Campbell1 Contact Information and F. William H. Beamish1
(1) Department of Biology, Burapha University, 20131, Saen, Chonburi, Thailand
Received: 25 January 2004 Accepted: 19 May 2004
Synopsis We examined the diet of Channa limbata, a predatory fish from western Thailand, in relation to mass, mouth and body morphology and intestine length. The cluster analysis we performed on the prey-specific abundance values of the dietary items yielded four size-classes based on diet. There was a shift from detritus and smaller benthic invertebrates in the diet of the first size class, to a mainly piscivorous diet in the fourth size-class as well as a steep increase in mass at the onset of piscivory. We found no significant change in relative intestine length with ontogeny, and the average relative intestine length value for C. limbata indicated primarily carnivorous feeding habits throughout ontogeny. Ontogenetic changes in mouth dimensions account primarily for the shift in diet, however the ontogenetic change in body morphology is of secondary importance.