STOMACH CONTENT OF THREE TUNA SPECIES IN THE EASTERN INDIAN OCEAN

Feeding habit of tuna in Indian Ocean has been described around Sri Lanka, Indian Waters, Andaman Sea, western Indian Ocean (Seychelles Islands), western equatorial Indian Ocean whereas the tunas feeding habit study in Eastern Indian Oceanis merely in existence. The purpose of this study is to investigate the stomach content of three tuna species (bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna, and skipjack tuna), apex predator in the southern part of Eastern Indian Ocean. The study was conducted in March – April, 2010 on the basis of catches of commercial tuna longline vessel based in Port of Benoa. A total of 53 individual fishes were collected, consisting of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacores), and skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis). Stomach specimens were collected and analyzed.Analysis was conducted on the basis of index of preponderance method. The diet of the three tuna species showed fishes as the main diet (56–82%), followed by cephalopods (squids) as the complementary diet (0–8%), and crustaceans (shrimps) as the additional diet (2–4%). Fish prey composed of 6 families i.e. Alepisauridae, Bramidae, Carangidae, Clupeidae, Engraulidae, and Scombridae.