Food and feeding habits of four species of juvenile mullet (Mugilidae) in a tidal lagoon in Ghana
Abstract
Juvenile mugilid fishes, Liza falcipinnis, L. dumerilii, Mugil bananensis and M. curema, which enter the Elmina Lagoon in the Cape Coast District of Ghana, have a similar diet comprising mainly bacteria, diatoms, blue-green/green algae, protozoans, detritus atid particulate organic matter. No seasonal changes in the diet and feeding activity were observed. The relative gut length (intestine to standard length ratio) and diet showed no significant changes with size of fish in all the species. All four species were diurnal feeders, but their peak feeding times differed. Interspecific competition for food was possibly limited by species preferences for substrate
particles of particular size range and dilferences in feeding chronology.
Food and feeding habits of four species of juvenile mullet (Mugilidae) in a tidal lagoon in Ghana
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