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Natural Diet of Two Commercial Crab Species, Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775) and P. sanguinolentus (Herbst, 1783), in the Coastal Waters of Karachi

Received: 26 April 2018     Accepted: 17 May 2018     Published: 25 June 2018
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Abstract

Stomach contents of 558 Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775) and 426 P. sanguinolentus (Herbst, 1783), from coastal waters of Karachi were examined. Crabs were collected from Korangi Creek, Karachi from January 2004 to December 2005. The frequency of occurrence and points methods were used for the stomach contents analysis. Out of 558 P. segnis and 426 P. sanguinolentus, 254 (45.52%) and 227 (53.3%) crabs had empty stomach, respectively. Mollusca and Crustacea dominated the diet of both the species. According to points method Mollusca and Crustacea scored 67.28% and 53.8% points in P. segnis and P. sanguinolentus, respectively. When analyzed by frequency of occurrence method Mollusca and Crustacea occurred in 88.37% and 71.4% stomachs in P. segnis and P. sanguinolentus, respectively. Majority of the Mollusca eaten by P. segnis and P. sanguinolentus were small soft-shelled bivalves while Crustacea included mostly small crabs. Small fish, shrimps, polychaete worms, sponges, starfishes, brittle stars, bryozoans, and plant (algae) materials were also present in some stomachs in small quantity. Results of the present study suggest that the two crab species are opportunistic predator competing for food in the natural environment.

Published in Animal and Veterinary Sciences (Volume 6, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.avs.20180603.11
Page(s) 35-42
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Stomach Content, Portunid Crabs, Pakistan

References
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    Shazia Rasheed, Javed Mustaquim. (2018). Natural Diet of Two Commercial Crab Species, Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775) and P. sanguinolentus (Herbst, 1783), in the Coastal Waters of Karachi. Animal and Veterinary Sciences, 6(3), 35-42. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.avs.20180603.11

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    ACS Style

    Shazia Rasheed; Javed Mustaquim. Natural Diet of Two Commercial Crab Species, Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775) and P. sanguinolentus (Herbst, 1783), in the Coastal Waters of Karachi. Anim. Vet. Sci. 2018, 6(3), 35-42. doi: 10.11648/j.avs.20180603.11

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    AMA Style

    Shazia Rasheed, Javed Mustaquim. Natural Diet of Two Commercial Crab Species, Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775) and P. sanguinolentus (Herbst, 1783), in the Coastal Waters of Karachi. Anim Vet Sci. 2018;6(3):35-42. doi: 10.11648/j.avs.20180603.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.avs.20180603.11,
      author = {Shazia Rasheed and Javed Mustaquim},
      title = {Natural Diet of Two Commercial Crab Species, Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775) and P. sanguinolentus (Herbst, 1783), in the Coastal Waters of Karachi},
      journal = {Animal and Veterinary Sciences},
      volume = {6},
      number = {3},
      pages = {35-42},
      doi = {10.11648/j.avs.20180603.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.avs.20180603.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.avs.20180603.11},
      abstract = {Stomach contents of 558 Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775) and 426 P. sanguinolentus (Herbst, 1783), from coastal waters of Karachi were examined. Crabs were collected from Korangi Creek, Karachi from January 2004 to December 2005. The frequency of occurrence and points methods were used for the stomach contents analysis. Out of 558 P. segnis and 426 P. sanguinolentus, 254 (45.52%) and 227 (53.3%) crabs had empty stomach, respectively. Mollusca and Crustacea dominated the diet of both the species. According to points method Mollusca and Crustacea scored 67.28% and 53.8% points in P. segnis and P. sanguinolentus, respectively. When analyzed by frequency of occurrence method Mollusca and Crustacea occurred in 88.37% and 71.4% stomachs in P. segnis and P. sanguinolentus, respectively. Majority of the Mollusca eaten by P. segnis and P. sanguinolentus were small soft-shelled bivalves while Crustacea included mostly small crabs. Small fish, shrimps, polychaete worms, sponges, starfishes, brittle stars, bryozoans, and plant (algae) materials were also present in some stomachs in small quantity. Results of the present study suggest that the two crab species are opportunistic predator competing for food in the natural environment.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Natural Diet of Two Commercial Crab Species, Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775) and P. sanguinolentus (Herbst, 1783), in the Coastal Waters of Karachi
    AU  - Shazia Rasheed
    AU  - Javed Mustaquim
    Y1  - 2018/06/25
    PY  - 2018
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.avs.20180603.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.avs.20180603.11
    T2  - Animal and Veterinary Sciences
    JF  - Animal and Veterinary Sciences
    JO  - Animal and Veterinary Sciences
    SP  - 35
    EP  - 42
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5850
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.avs.20180603.11
    AB  - Stomach contents of 558 Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775) and 426 P. sanguinolentus (Herbst, 1783), from coastal waters of Karachi were examined. Crabs were collected from Korangi Creek, Karachi from January 2004 to December 2005. The frequency of occurrence and points methods were used for the stomach contents analysis. Out of 558 P. segnis and 426 P. sanguinolentus, 254 (45.52%) and 227 (53.3%) crabs had empty stomach, respectively. Mollusca and Crustacea dominated the diet of both the species. According to points method Mollusca and Crustacea scored 67.28% and 53.8% points in P. segnis and P. sanguinolentus, respectively. When analyzed by frequency of occurrence method Mollusca and Crustacea occurred in 88.37% and 71.4% stomachs in P. segnis and P. sanguinolentus, respectively. Majority of the Mollusca eaten by P. segnis and P. sanguinolentus were small soft-shelled bivalves while Crustacea included mostly small crabs. Small fish, shrimps, polychaete worms, sponges, starfishes, brittle stars, bryozoans, and plant (algae) materials were also present in some stomachs in small quantity. Results of the present study suggest that the two crab species are opportunistic predator competing for food in the natural environment.
    VL  - 6
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    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Faculty of Marine Sciences, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal, Pakistan

  • Centre of Excellence in Marine Biology, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan

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