Food and Feeding Habits of the White Prawn Penaeus merguiensis

Abstract

Stomach-content analyses revealed that the white prawn Penaeus merguiensis de Man, in the Angsd Bank-Klang Strait waters (Straits of Malacca), feed on a variety of food - depending on the locality and availability of food items. In the nursery ground, newly-arrived pelagic postlarvae are carnivores, feeding largely on copepods. Epibenthic postlarvae and juveniles are carnivorous detriti-vores, consuming mainly organic detritus; they also prey on small animals like foraminiferans, copepods, larval bivalves and brachyuran larvae. In the maturation ground, subadults are detritivorous carnivores, feeding mainly on large crustaceans, like species of Acetes and mysids; in lesser amounts, on organic detritus. In the spawning ground, adults are detritivore-cdrnivores consuming equal amounts organic detritus and a variety of large crustaceans, polychaetes, molluscs and fishes. However, there are indications that the prawn prefer animal food if available. Organic detrltus is considered a food supplement; its utilization as a food source becomes important to the maturing prawn when it assumes a benthic existence.