scholarly journals FEEDING HABITS AND HELMINTH PARASITES OF SARDINE (S. PILCHARDUS) AND ANCHOVY (E. ENCRASICOLUS) IN THE ADRIATIC SEA

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 216 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. ZORICA ◽  
V. ČIKES KEČ ◽  
O. VIDJAK ◽  
I. MLADINEO ◽  
D. EZGETA BALIČ

We examined the stomach contents of two of the most economically and ecologically important small pelagic fish species, the sardine, Sardina pilchardus and the anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus, obtained monthly from commercial purse-seine catches operating on Croatian fishing grounds during a one-year period (January–December, 2011). Both species generally showed a similar diet, with copepod and decapod larvae as dominant prey groups. The composition of anchovy and sardine stomach contents was not size- or sex-related, but throughout the year, a significant difference in diet composition was observed for each species as well as between species. Two gastrointerstinal helminths; the digenean Parahemiurus merus and nematode Hysterothylacium aduncum, were recorded during the stomach content analysis. Differences in population dynamics between the two parasites are congruent with differences in the prey composition of sardine and anchovy, reflecting fine-tuned interactions in the trophic web between parasites and intermediate or paratenic hosts included in the sardine and anchovy diet.

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. N. Bahuguna ◽  
Anita Rawat Rana ◽  
Shurveer Singh

The present study was carried out to study the diet composition of freshwater crab, P. koolooense in hillstream Khoh of Uttarakhand during November, 2013 to October, 2014. Total 105 crab samples were used for the study, 35 male and 47 female were found with food in their stomach while rest of the 23 had empty stomachs. The carapace length (CL) ranged from 12mm to 49mm, carapace width (CW) from 15mm to 59mm and total weight (TW) from 2.08g to 60.12g. Stomach content analysis of the animal showed that the diet of the animal composed of animal matter, plant matter, algae, fungi, debris and unidentified materials. Animal matter ranged from (3.27-11.93%), plant matter (4.37-14.44%), algae (1.73-6.15%), fungi (0.17-1.43%), debris (28.18-40.47%) and unidentified materials (36.46-50.05%) in males while in the female animal matter ranged from (3.09-12.34%), plant matter (4.45-12.73%), algae (1.03-7.61%), fungi (0.02-3.34%), debris (23.18-43.34%) and unidentified (30.31-51.04%). Unidentified materials recorded maximum and fungi recorded minimum in both the sexes of Potamon koolooense. A significant difference was observed at p<0.05 between food groups- algae and unidentified matter in both sexes. This is the first report, to key out and quantifies the dietary items and feeding habits of crab in Uttarakhand which would be helpful in interpreting the ecological niche of the animal in mountain stream communities.


Author(s):  
João Neiva ◽  
Rui Coelho ◽  
Karim Erzini

Etmopterus spinax is one of the most abundant predators of the upper continental slope off the Algarve (southern Portugal), where it is captured in large quantities in deep-water fisheries. The feeding habits of E. spinax off the Algarve were investigated through the analysis of stomach contents of 376 individuals. Prey composition was described and maturity, sex and size related variations in the diet analysed. The overall diet of E. spinax suggested a fairly generalized benthopelagic foraging behaviour primarily tuned to pelagic macroplankton/microneckton, teleost fish and cephalopods. Sex and maturity related differences in the diet were not significant. Two main ontogenic diet shifts were observed at about 17 and 28 cm total length. Small and medium sized immature sharks had a diet dominated by eurybathic crustaceans, chiefly Meganyctiphanes norvegica and Pasiphaea sivado. Larger individuals consumed more teleosts and cephalopods, in part associated with scavenging as a new feeding strategy. With increasing shark size the diet diversified both in terms of resources exploited and prey size.


Author(s):  
Edem, Edem Thomas ◽  
Patience B. Opeh

The present study is aimed to provide information on the food and feeding habit of adult Auchenoglanis biscutatus in Lower River Benue. The natural food of A. biscutatus in the Lower River Benue was studied from stomach contents of the fish. The stomach contents were analyzed using two methods; the frequency of occurrence and point methods. A total of 100 stomachs were randomly examined. Eleven major items constituted the diet of A. biscutatus. The stomach content analysis of A. biscutatus have shown that they fed on the various food items ranging from plant parts, detritus, seeds, digested food particles, fish parts, mollusc, sand/mud, insect parts and algae. This indicates that A. biscutatus is an omnivorous bottom feeder since; bottom dwelling immature insects dominated most of the food items of animal origin, digested food and detritus. A. biscutatus in Lower Benue River feeds on a wide range of food items which could make it to be regarded as an omnivore. Future attempts to culture this species must take cognizance of its food habits in the wild.


Author(s):  
Laura Busin Campos ◽  
Xênia Moreira Lopes ◽  
Ednilson da Silva ◽  
Marcos César de Oliveira Santos

AbstractThis study evaluated the feeding habits of the franciscana dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) in south-eastern Brazil. Stomach contents were collected from a total of 145 dead specimens found incidentally caught by fishing vessels or stranded between 2005 and 2015. Fish otoliths, cephalopod beaks and whole non-digested prey were used for prey species identification. A total of 9337 prey items were identified, including 26 species of teleost fishes and three species of cephalopods. The most important prey families were Sciaenidae among fish and Loliginidae among cephalopods. Franciscana dolphins tended to feed on small fish (mean = 5.25 cm) and cephalopods (mean = 8.57 cm). The index of relative importance (IRI) showed that Pellona harroweri and Doryteuthis plei were the most important prey for both males and females. The PERMANOVA test confirmed that there is no significant difference between the feeding habits of different sexes, but detected a significant difference among seasons. Overall, our results show that franciscana dolphins are predominantly ichthyophagous and non-selective in relation to the type of prey, feeding on pelagic, demersal and pelagic-demersal prey.


Author(s):  
Marco Stagioni ◽  
Stefano Montanini ◽  
Maria Vallisneri

The stomach contents of 1096 specimens of Chelidonichthys lucerna were examined in order to analyse their diet composition according to fish size, sex, depth and season. Sampling was carried out from May 2005 to March 2007 during several bottom trawl surveys in the Adriatic Sea (north-east Mediterranean). Feeding activity was more intense in juveniles than in adults. The most important prey was Crustacea (mainly Decapoda: Brachyura, such as Goneplax rhomboides, Liocarcinus spp., Philocheras spp.) and Teleostei (mainly European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus and black goby Gobius niger). There was no difference between male and female diet. Feeding habits varied with size, with fish dominating the stomach contents of larger specimens. Finally, fish increased in winter and crustaceans in summer. Chelidonichthys lucerna shows a generalist and opportunistic foraging behaviour, preying mainly epibenthic and nectobenthic organisms.


1977 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lim Boo Liat ◽  
Christine Betterton

ABSTRACTExamination of naturally infected felids and viverrids in Malaysia confirmed previously published records which indicated that P. westermani occured only in felid cats. Felis planiceps and F. temnickii were reported as new host records. Analysis of stomach contents revealed no crab remains in either family of cats, but confirmed that felids were strictly carnivorous while viverrids were often omnivorous. In feeding experiments, only viverrids ate the host crabs Potamiscus johorensis and Parathelphusa maculata. The probable transmission of P. westermani to felids via paratenic hosts was discussed.


2005 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. Andrade ◽  
F. M. S. Braga

We compare the classic model of feeding of tropical fish by means of six bimonthly samplings using gillnets of varying mesh sizes that were inspected every twelve hours throughout a forty-eight hour period. The stomachs of the fish caught were classified in three categories according to quantity of food found. The amount of fat in the visceral cavity with respect to the energetic reserve deposition was also studied. The relative frequencies of the different categories of stomach repletion and fat deposition were examined for patterns of feeding seasonality. The stomachs considered full were examined to record diet composition. To assess the relative importance of the different food resources, we applied Feeding Importance Degree (FID), which is a useful index when difficulties exist in determining a common basis for volume, number, or weight of a given food item in different species, a common problem when dealing with fish species having different feeding habits. The fish species whose stomach contents were analyzed using the FID index were Serrasalmus spilopleura (Characidae), L. prolixa (Loricaridae), Schizodon nasutus (Anostomidae), and Pimelodus maculatus (Pimelodidae). Our findings indicate some contrasting elements , in dietary composition in relation to the classic model for tropical rivers. These factors include the importance of aquatic macrophytes, the lack of piscivorous species, and a lesser presence of allochthonous vegetation in the diet of the species studied.


1979 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 347 ◽  
Author(s):  
JA Taylor

Stomach contents were studied for 289 live young crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) less than 180 cm long, collected from coast, river and swamp of Arnhem Land, Melville Island and Grant Island, Northern Territory, Australia; the crocodiles were then released. Tables give orders and families and some generic and specific names for prey or carrion eaten and for 3 parasites on the crocodiles, for a dry and a wet season in 1975-76. Between crocodiles 50 to 120 cm long and those smaller or larger there was no significant difference in the proportion of crocodiles having eaten crabs, shrimps, fish or insects or with empty stomachs, but only the larger crocodiles ate mammals or birds. Frequency of different foods eaten differed significantly with type of habitat or with salinity. Weight of food or incidence of empty stomachs did not differ between seasons, habitats or salinities. Condition of the crocodiles was significantly poorer for those from freshwater swamps than for those from lower mangrove or flood plains, and highest for those from upper mangrove. Main foods in both seasons were crustaceans, mainly crabs of subfamily Sesarminae and shrimps of genus Macrobrachium. The only fish eaten regularly was Pseudogobius sp., a slow-moving fish found by the water's edge. Amphibians were not found in the stomach.


Author(s):  
E. Mostarda ◽  
D. Campo ◽  
L. Castriota ◽  
V. Esposito ◽  
M.P. Scarabello ◽  
...  

A total of 235 bullet tunas (Auxis rochei) was caught off the north-eastern coast of Sicily between March 2003 and March 2004 for the purpose of studying their feeding habits. The fish were caught by means of an experimental surface gill-net during fishing surveys carried out on a monthly basis. The stomach contents were analysed and the prey identified, counted and weighed. The importance of the different prey types was assessed utilizing several feeding indices while possible size-related changes of the diet composition were highlighted by means of hierarchical cluster analysis, nMDS and SIMPER analysis. The results of this study showed that the bullet tuna is an epipelagic off-shore predator feeding on whatever abundant resource is available in the environment with a preference for planktonic crustaceans, small cephalopods and fish larvae. Among crustaceans, hyperiidean amphipods were the most important prey, with Anchylomera blossevillei as the dominant species, followed by the euphausiacean Stylocheiron maximum. Among cephalopods, Heteroteuthis dispar was recorded frequently while fish larvae showed high values of all indices. All prey were pelagic organisms. A size-related change in the diet composition was observed, even if it seemed related to the temporal fluctuations of the zooplanktonic assemblage in the environment. The average prey weight per stomach increased significantly in the larger predators which mostly fed on fish larvae belonging to several commercially important demersal and pelagic species.


1978 ◽  
Vol 35 (10) ◽  
pp. 1359-1363 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Meehan ◽  
Richard A. Miller

Hydraulic stomach flushing was an effective method to analyze relative food consumption and feeding habits of young salmonids. Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) stomachs were most effectively flushed — 99% of invertebrate organisms (96% of weight of stomach contents); 92% of organisms (83% of weight) were flushed from cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki) stomachs, 90% of organisms (77% of weight) were flushed from rainbow trout (S. gairdneri) stomachs. Stomach flushing did not affect survival of juvenile coho salmon. A significant difference in change in mean condition factor between wild and hatchery fish was found after 30 d (greater change in wild fish), and a significant change was observed between the mean condition factors of control and treated hatchery fish. No difference was found between control and treated wild fish. Key words: stomach flushing, juvenile salmonids, survival, condition, food habits


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