INVESTIGADORES
BELLEGGIA Mauro
artículos
Título:
The feeding ecology of Mustelus schmitti in the southwestern Atlantic: geographic variations and dietary shifts
Autor/es:
BELLEGGIA MAURO; FIGUEROA DANIEL E.; SÁNCHEZ FELISA; BREMEC CLAUDIA
Revista:
ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY OF FISHES
Editorial:
SPRINGER
Referencias:
Lugar: New York; Año: 2012 vol. 95 p. 1 - 16
ISSN:
0378-1909
Resumen:
The feeding ecology of Mustelus schmittiwas studied based on analysis of stomach contents of525 specimens collected from three research cruisescarried out during October 2008 to March 2009 onthe Argentinean continental shelf (34º45´S - 41ºS).Generalized Linear Models were used to test theeffects of Geographic location, Total Length, Sex andMaturity stage on the diet. The most commonlyoccurring major prey groups differed between Geographiclocations. In Río de la Plata (RLP) deep M.schmitti feed on Crustaceans, Fish and Polychaetes,whereas Crustaceans, Polychaetes and Fishes werethe main prey in RLP coast, Rincón (RIN) coast andRIN deep, respectively. Moreover, models showeddietary shift related to total length in each Geographiclocation. In coastal nursery areas Polychaetes decreasedand Fishes increased in importance as M. schmitti grewin size; while Crustaceans increased in importancefrom small to medium size, and then decreased in thelarge specimens. Deeper areas also show dietarychanges related to growth. The trophic level of M.schmitti showed lower values in coastal Geographiclocations (3.48-3.53) than in deeper Geographiclocations (3.56-3.77). The higher trophic role in deepercommunities could be related to the size of M. schmittiwhich increases with depth. Finally, total vacuity indexwas 2.47 (the lowest in the literature) indicating anintense and continuous feeding activity of the species.