Food and Feeding Behavior of Some Air Breathing Fish Species

It is expected that aquaculture alone will provide around two third of global fish consumption by 2030, as catches from wild capture fisheries has been either decreasing or stagnant. Majority of the air breathing fish species have very high consumer preference as food fish for their unique taste, nutritional and therapeutic value. Although these species are often considered as weed and unwanted fish in aquaculture, yet they play an important role in supplementing the nutritional requirement of resource poor fishers and farmers and providing livelihood through ornamental fish trade for entrepreneurs. However, not much scientific information is available on the nutritional requirement and food habit of the air breathing fish species. A change or transformation of feeding habit of several air breathing fish species with the advances of their life stages have been reported.