The diet of the Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides , a deep-sea top predator off Southwest Atlantic Ocean
- PDF / 944,195 Bytes
- 10 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 16 Downloads / 196 Views
ORIGINAL PAPER
The diet of the Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides, a deep‑sea top predator off Southwest Atlantic Ocean Gonzalo Horacio Troccoli1 · Eduardo Aguilar1 · Patricia Alejandra Martínez1 · Mauro Belleggia1,2 Received: 6 December 2019 / Revised: 7 July 2020 / Accepted: 6 August 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The present study is a valuable contribution to the knowledge of feeding habits of Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides in Southwestern Atlantic (53–55°S, 351 to 1073 m depth) near Burdwood Bank/Namuncurá marine-protected area, where diet has not been previously investigated. Based on stomach content analyses of 441 specimens ranging from 38 to 190 cm total length (TL), our study tested the hypotheses that diet was influenced by TL, sex, maturity stage, depth, and region, using generalized linear models and information theory selection criteria. The Patagonian toothfish fed primarily on fish (morid cod Notophycis marginata, myctophids, rattails Macrourus holotrachys and Coelorinchus fasciatus, notothenids Patagonotothen ramsayi, and hoki Macruronus magellanicus), followed by cephalopods (Onykia ingens, Doryteuthis gahi) and shrimps (Acanthephyra pelagica). One case of cannibalism was recorded. The trophic level was 4.57 (4.22 juveniles, 4.78 adults). The pelagic fish and bathypelagic shrimp were more consumed in the east region, whereas demersal fish and cephalopods were more consumed in the west one. Ontogenetic dietary changes associated with TL and maturity stage were reported: pelagic fish and shrimp A. pelagica had the main importance in the diet of intermediate-sized toothfish, reinforcing the hypothesis that juveniles exhibited a bento-pelagic behavior. Demersal fish were more heavily consumed by juvenile specimens, and the size of demersal fish predated by Patagonian toothfish increased according to the predator TL. Cephalopods were more consumed by adults. The preference of sexually mature specimens for cephalopods could have a positive effect on spawning and egg quality. Keywords Feeding ecology · Trophic relationships · Nototheniidae · Burdwood bank · Trophic level · Top predator
Introduction The family Nototheniidae is the most diverse of the Antarctic fish, consisting of 14 genera and 56 endemic species to the Southern Hemisphere (Nelson et al. 2016). The majority of notothenioids occur in Antarctica, but some species range northward to such regions such New Zealand, Macquarie Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02730-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Mauro Belleggia [email protected] 1
Instituto Nacional de Investigación Y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP), Paseo Victoria Ocampo N°1, 7600, Mar del Plata, B7602HSA Buenos Aires, Argentina
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas (CONICET), Avenida Rivadavia 1917, C1033AAJ Buenos Aires, Argentina
2
Island, Chile, and Argentina (Nel
Data Loading...
