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Feeding habits of bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766) (Actinopterygii, Pomatomidae) off the Brazilian Southwestern Atlantic

2023; Volume: 18; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.54451/panamjas.18.1.51

1809-9009

Cristina Daniela, Magda Monteiro, Marcus De Andrade-Tubino, Cassiano Monteiro‐Neto, Rafael De, Almeida Tubino, Daniel Macedo Lopes Vasques Monteiro,

Ichthyology and Marine Biology

The stomach contents of 507 bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix from the Southwestern Atlantic were examined (61.9% contained some food).The diet was dominated by bony fish (84.6% by Prey Specific of Importance Relative Index -PSIRI).The main prey were Dactylopterus volitans (27.8%),Fish remains (13.0%),Mysidacea (12.5%) and Sardinella brasiliensis (11.9%).The average trophic level was estimated at 4.8, confirming its status as a top predator.Analyses based on the PSIRI contributions of different prey revealed variations in dietary composition in terms of size classes and seasons.Juvenile individuals occupy the lowest trophic level, present a lower diversity of prey and concentrate their consumption on Mysidacea.Sub-adults and adults consume mainly fish and occupying higher trophic levels.D. volitans was the most important prey during summer and autumn.Squids were consumed in greater proportion in spring.The differences observed for sub-adult and adult fish between seasons were mainly related to variations in the percentage of different fish in their diets whereas differences observed for small fish were mainly related to an increase in consumption of Mysidaceae in spring.We confirm that Southwestern Atlantic P. saltarix is a highly mobile pelagic predator, that feeds predominantly on small pelagic fish.