ABSTRACT
Dumbo (Clarias gariepinus) is one of walking catfish species fromAfrica. Dumbo was introduced to Indonesia in 1986. Sangkuriang (Clariasgariepinus var. Sangkuriang) is one of dumbo variant that was launched byBalai Budidaya Air Tawar Sukabumi.The study about feeding behavior of sangkuriang is using juvenile ofclarias (Clarias gariepinus), common carp (Cyprinus carpio), tambaqui(Collossoma macropomum) and tilapia (Tilapia mossambica) as preys.Feeding behavior and prey preference of sangkuriang were compared withdumbo (control). Parameters were observed in this study included:aggressivity, time needed to recognize the prey, velocity to attack the prey,and number of preys eating by two variant of catfish. The study wasconducted in aquarium (artificial environment).Number of preys have been eaten by dumbo and sangkuriang wererecorded every 2 (two) hours along one day (24 hours). Data of eachparameter of dumbo and sangkuriang was compared. Data analysis was using mean difference comparison with t-test for independence variance andone way ANOVA used SPSS program release 12.0.In the feeding preference test, both of sangkuriang and dumbo wereprefer to attack juvenile of common carp and juveniles of clarias was secondpreference. But in the feeding test, both of sangkuriang and dumbopreferred to eat juvenile of clarias itself more than three other species.Feeding preference of two variant of catfish were influenced by their preybehavior. Juveniles of clarias were the weakest preys. When juveniles ofclarias needed oxygen, they would swim vertically to water surface. Its time,both sangkuriang and dumbo attacked juveniles of clarias on the weakestcondition.The time of sangkuriang ate maximum number of preys is between02.00 ? 04.00 a.m. This result is match with many other research and studiesthat say catfish is nocturnal fish. Dumbo ate preys maximum between 12.00? 14.00. There are many previous studies describe that on the special case,catfish can be active on daytime. Dumbo was more aggressive than sangkuriang. Time attacked itspreys by dumbo was faster than sangkuriang?s.. Dumbo was also morecannibal than sangkuriang. Sangkuriang ate preys more than dumbo. Bothof dumbo and sangkuriang can be serious threat if they enter into naturalenvironment, because they will attack endemic fishes. |
