COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGY OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT OF THE FISHES Hoplias malabaricus AND Hypostomus pusarum IN MARECHAL DUTRA RESERVOIR, RIO GRANDE DO NORTE, BRAZIL

• Autor(a) principal: Rodrigues Pessoa, Emilly Kataline
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: da Silva, Naisandra Bezerra, Chellappa, Naithirithi T., de Souza, Arrilton Araújo, Chellappa, Sathyabama
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biota Amazônia
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.unifap.br/index.php/biota/article/view/609

Hoplias malabaricus and Hypostomus pusarum are fish species which are of ecological and economical importance in the neotropical aquatic ecosystems. The present work compares the morphological aspects of the digestive tract of H. malabaricus and H. pusarum, in relation to their feeding habits. During the period July, 2011 to June, 2012, 45 individuals of H. malabaricus and 33 of H. pusarum were captured, using gillnets and cast nets in the Marechal Dutra reservoir, Acari, RN. Each individual was measured for total length and body weight was obtained. The position of the mouth, presence and type of teeth, number of gill rakers, esophagus, stomach and the presence of pyloric caeca were observed for morphological description. The intestinal length was checked and stomach contents were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level. The mouth and teeth of H. malabaricus are adapted to grab and swallow large prey, while that of H. pusarum are adapted for scraping. The first branchial arch of H. malabaricus has seven gill rakers, which are spaced, short and sharp, but H. pusarum has no gill rakers. The arrangement of the digestive organs in both species is directly related to the shape of the peritoneal cavity and body shape. H. malabaricus has a short intestine, while H. pusarum presents a very long intestine. . H. malabaricus feeds on animal material, preferably fish (72.8%) and prawns (27.2%), while the diet of H. pusarum constituted mainly of decaying organic matter (88.7%) and microalgas (11.3%). The morphology of the digestive tract and the stomach contents of H. malabaricus indicte a carnivorous food habit and that of H. pusarum confirms a detritivore / herbivore food habit.Keywords: Morphological aspects, digestive tract, diet, Hoplias malabaricus, Hypostomus pusarum.