Fishes associated with spinner dolphins at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, tropical Western Atlantic: an update and overview

Abstract

An update is presented for fish species associated with spinner dolphins at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, tropical Western Atlantic, providing a general view of their diversity. The associates are mostly reef-dwelling fishes that feed on the dolphin wastes. Twelve species are habitual or occasional plankton-eaters and two species are herbivores that occasionally forage on floating pieces of algae. One species is a strict carnivore, one species is a hitchhiker that forages on a variety of foods including parasites and dead tissue from the dolphins, and one species is a carnivore that joins the dolphin groups to forage on schools of small fishes or squids. We predict that the list of fish associated with spinner dolphins will expand mostly with addition of habitual or occasional plankton-eaters.Uma atualização é apresentada sobre as espécies de peixes associados a golfinhos-rotadores no Arquipélago de Fernando de Noronha, Atlântico Ocidental, fornecendo uma visão geral sobre sua diversidade. Os peixes associados são principalmente habitantes recifais que se alimentam de dejetos dos golfinhos. Doze espécies são planctófagas habituais ou ocasionais e duas são herbívoras que se alimentam ocasionalmente de algas à deriva. Uma espécie é carnívora estrita, uma vive fixada aos golfinhos e seu alimento é variado, incluindo parasitos e tecido morto dos golfinhos, e uma é carnívora que se junta aos grupos de golfinhos durante a caça a peixes e lulas. Prevemos que a lista de peixes associados a golfinhos-rotadores seja expandida principalmente com adição de planctófagos habituais ou ocasionais.

Pelagic predator associations: tuna and dolphins in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean

“…The dolphins foraged by herding prey fishes into a tight ball near the surface, but the tunas tended to break up the ball, scattering both prey and dolphins. Groups of yellowfin tuna and spinner dolphins also have been observed foraging together off Brazil (Sazima et al 2006). In neither of these areas, however, have the tunas and dolphins been observed in more than temporary feeding aggregations.…”

“…During the severe 1983 El Niño, for example, the mixed layer in the ETP deepened over a wide area, and likely as a result, made the tuna-dolphin association more difficult to maintain, which likely explains the greatly reduced number of dolphin sets and tuna catches in that year (Fig. B-4 (Sazima et al 2006), the Azores (Clua & Grosvalet 2001, Silva et al 2002, Hawaii (Shallenberger 1981), and the Philippines, Indonesia, and New Guinea (Dolar 1994, Hampton & Bailey 1999, WCPFC 2011. These associations may be promoted by the shallower thermocline in the lee of some islands (e.g.…”

Oocyte development and ovarian maturation of the black triggerfish, Melichthys niger(Actinopterygii: Balistidae) in São Pedro e São Paulo Archipelago, Brazil

“…The black triggerfish, M. niger (Bloch, 1786), for example, is one of the least-known species of the family Balistidae, mainly due to its strictly oceanic and insular distribution. The black triggerfish has a circumtropical distribution (Carvalho-Filho, 1999), in the Atlantic Ocean, with occurrence records in the Navassa Island, Caribbean Sea (Grace et al, 2000); Monjes Archipelago, in Venezuela (Fariña et al, 2005) Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (Sazima et al, 2006), Trindade Island (Gasparini & Floeter, 2001), on the central (Martins et al, 2007) and northeast coast of Brazil (Feitosa et al, 2005), as well as other locations.…”

Fish feed on faeces and vomits of New Zealand fur seals: marine mammals bring nutrients from open to inshore waters

“…Marine mammals are mostly carnivorous (Reeves et al, 2002) and their faeces also are a rich source of nutrients to reef fish (Sazima et al, 2003(Sazima et al, , 2006 and possibly other organisms as well. As most dolphins and pinipeds feed on open waters and rest and eliminate wastes (faeces and vomits) in inshore waters (Reeves et al, 2002), they may play a significant role in the transference of nutrients from open to coastal waters, by providing these as particulate food to reef fish.…”

“…As most dolphins and pinipeds feed on open waters and rest and eliminate wastes (faeces and vomits) in inshore waters (Reeves et al, 2002), they may play a significant role in the transference of nutrients from open to coastal waters, by providing these as particulate food to reef fish. However, fish use of wastes released by marine mammals is recorded only for the spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) in the tropical Western Atlantic (Lodi, 1998;Sazima et al, 2003Sazima et al, , 2006.…”