Feeding behavior and follower fishes of Myrichthys ocellatus (Anguilliformes: Ophichthidae) in the western Atlantic

Abstract

This paper described aspects of feeding behavior of Myrichthys ocellatus in the Western Atlantic, using diving observations and additional data from literature. The feeding behavior of M. ocellatus was characterized by scanning the sand surface and searching for buried preys, using its head and tail as a searching tool. Twelve species of reef fish were detected as followers of M. ocellatus, including three new records of follower species. The food overlap index between M. ocellatus and most follower species was low.O presente estudo descreveu aspectos do comportamento alimentar de Myrichthys ocellatus no Atlântico ocidental, através de observações subaquáticas, complementadas com dados compilados da literatura. Myrichthys ocellatus caracteriza-se por buscar presas entocadas ou enterradas no substrato não consolidados e por usar a cauda e a cabeça como ferramentas de busca. Doze espécies de peixes recifais foram observadas como seguidoras de M. ocellatus, incluindo três novas ocorrências. O índice de sobreposição alimentar entre M. ocellatus e a maioria das espécies seguidoras foi baixo.

Follower fish of the goldspotted eel Myrichthys ocellatus with a review on anguilliform fish as nuclear species

“…M. ocellatus possess a suite of adaptations, such as round and elongated body that enables it to move through the reef and explore complex structures like narrow interstices (i.e., crevices, holes, cracks). These features promote M. ocellatus as a potential nuclear species even for small reef fish such as verified herein as also mentioned elsewhere [13,20]. M. ocellatus is distributed throughout the Atlantic ocean [21] and it is common in Brazilian shallow waters [17,18,22].…”

“…1 Number of fish species described as followers of eels, according to the family, found in 22 peer-reviewed publications the feeding success of follower fish [5,23]. However, the frequency in which the interactions occur was unknown, and surveys only described opportunistic behavioral aspects of the event [13,14,20,24]. To the best of our knowledge, this study presents the first data on duration and frequency (presence x absence) of following interactions with an eel species.…”

“…The species is mostly nocturnal, feeds primarily on crabs, although it may also forage during the daytime [13,14]. Specifically, this study aims to examine the frequency and time of the nuclearfollower associations among reef fish.…”

“…This can be explained because the amount of disturbance created by the foraging nuclear fish is suggested to influence the size and number of followers [9]. Species that cause a relatively high amount of disturbance such as M. ocellatus [13], are suggested to attract more followers [2].…”

“…A previous literature review [13] reported 12 species of followers of M. ocellatus, of which five species were groupers. Nevertheless, in Arraial do Cabo, we recorded only one species of grouper (Mycteroperca acutirostris) in a single event.…”