Hábitos alimentarios del Moncholo Hoplias malabaricus en la ciénaga de Ayapel, Colombia

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.6582315126

• Palavras-chave: Dieta, Preferencias alimentarias, Seguridad alimentaria, cuenca del río San Jorge.

• Keywords: Diet, Food preferences, Food safety, San Jorge River Basin.

• Abstract: The feeding habits of Moncholo Hoplias malabaricus (Bloch, 1794) in the cienaga de Ayapel, San Jorge River basin, Colombia, were studied. The stomach content was evaluated using the proportion of empty stomachs, grade of digestion, frequency of occurrence, numerical frequency and gravimetry. The trophic niche, equity index, welfare state, food preferences according to size and the hydrological cycle of the cienaga, the intestinal length-total length relationship and the relative importance index were also estimated. It was found that a large number of the stomachs studied were empty (73.6%) with only 10.8% of the food in a fresh state. Five items or food groups were identified in the diet: Fish, Vegetal matter, Insects, Detritus and Others. Fish was the most frequent group (94.6%), abundant (86.2%) and with the highest composition by weight (97.9%), both in the size structure and in the hydrological cycle of the cienaga, becoming the main food in the diet (IIR =92.6%), while the other groups had low relative importance. The food preferences suggest that the Moncholo is a stenophagous fish with carnivorous food habits and a piscivorous preference, which it maintains as it grows and with the level of the cienaga de Ayapel.