Abstract

The Barbul de Piedra is a silurid fish found in brackish waters with certain commercial importance to the cordobes region of the Caribbean Sea. To establish their feeding habits, 335 individuals were captured between January and December 2005; lengths and weights ranged between 18.0 - 50.0 (30.1 ± 8.4) cm total length and 46.0-1528.0 (342.5 ± 297.7) g. The stomach content was analyzed using the proportion of empty stomachs, grade of digestion, frequency of occurrence, numerical frequency, gravimetry and relative importance Index (RII). A total of 18.8% of stomachs were empty, 66.1% of the food was medium digested. Five 5 food groups were identified and consisted of crustaceans, fishes, raw vegetable material, mollusks and others materials. Crustaceans were the most frequently observed (59.5%), the most abundant group (32.9%), and comprised the greatest composition in weight (46.8%). After crustaceans, fish were the most common group (35.6%) with species like Cocobolo (Aequidens pulcher), Moncholo (Hoplias malabaricus), Sardine (Astyanax sp) and Chipe (Hoplostermum magdalenae). The RII indicated that Crustaceans (RII =28.0%) and Fishes (RII =11.0%), there are secondary relative importance preys. The groups comprised of raw vegetable matter, mollusks and others represent occasional or incidental prey. The results reached in this study indicate that Barbul de Piedra is a fish with carnivorous feeding habits with preference for crustaceans

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