author(s)
Sangeeta Kumari, Jag Pal and Sonia

abstract
Cannibalism, the consumption of an individual of the same species, is prevalent in fish, but has only been reported for about 1% of the approximately 30,000 teleost fish in the sea and in freshwater worldwide. Some have suggested that cannibalism is an essential density-based regulatory mechanism; others have concluded that cannibalism has little or no importance for population dynamics. For some carnivorous fish, cannibalism is generally associated with several variables, such as heterogeneous size differences, limited food availability, high population density, limited protected areas and lighting conditions. There are many research possibilities to study how cannibalism is affected by the distribution of population size and ontogenetic differences in morphology and behavior, the structure of local communities, heterogeneity of habitat and abiotic environmental factors. The role of cannibalism in population dynamics remains controversial. Further research and a better understanding of cannibalism in fish, as well as the development of new techniques such as molecular methods, would not only help improve aquaculture, but also manage wild fish stocks and conserve species and mitigate the effects of invasive species.