Preliminary study of feeding habit of Mahseer, Neolissochilus stracheyi (Day, 1871)in Arawan National Park, Thailand

A study on feeding morphology of Mahseerindicated that this fish is bottom feeder. According to the stomach content data, the fish can be considered as omnivorous and detritivorous. Food items can separated intosix groups which were plants, insects, oligochaeta, fish, organic matters and unidentified. Insects and organic matters were dominant food items in small size fish (<10.0 cmSL) but plants were dominant food items in medium (10.1 – 20.0 cmSL) and large size fish (>20.0 cmSL). The highest diet breadthwas found in small size fish followed by medium and large size fish. Feeding habits of Mahseer had low overlap in each size group.