Growth pattern, reproduction and food habit of palau fish Osteochilus vittatus in Batanghari River, Jambi Province, Indonesia

Abstract

Batanghari River is one of the fishing locations in Jambi Province, Indonesia. One of the commercial freshwater fish in this river is silver shark minnow Osteochilus vittatus. Presently, there was no study on the bioecology of this species in Batanghari river. Therefore, the aims of this research were to analyze the growth pattern, reproduction, and food habits of silver shark minnow in Batanghari River, Indonesia. Data were collected in February, April, June, September, and October 2018. The samples were preserved with alcohol 70%. The length-weight relationships were analyzed using the linear allometric model, gonad maturity was observed by morphologically, and fecundity was calculated by the gravimetric method. The results showed that this fish had an isometric growth pattern. The fish fed on phytoplankton and indicated as herbivorous plankton feeder. Bacillariophyceae and Chlorophyceae were predominant food items. The fish spawn around the year partially with fecundity between 2,726 - 19,202 eggs. The gonad maturity index ranges from 5.38% to 11.44%, and the egg diameter ranged from 0.40 to 1.27 mm.