Notes on Feeding Preferences of Some Cyprinids (Osteichthyes, Cyprinidae) in the Danube Downstream from Belgrade

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the diet of some cyprinids in Serbia. Fish were caught in the Danube near Belgrade in 2011. The gut contents of 27 specimens belonging to four species - Vimba vimba (Linnaeus, 1758), Abramis brama (Linnaeus 1758), Ballerus sapa (Pallas 1814) and silver bream Blicca bjoerkna (Linnaeus 1758), were analyzed. Gammarids (Amphipoda: Gammaridae) were found to be the most common and abundant prey utilized by all analyzed species. An especially high proportion of gammarids in the total diet composition was found in vimba bream. The Jacobs’ preference index was used to better describe the diet of fish. Molluscs and oligochaetes, besides gammarids, are the dominant and most common macroinvertebrates in potamon-type rivers in Serbia. Based on our results those organisms are not preferred as a food of studied species.