Diet of the chola guitarfish, Rhinobatos percellens (Rhinobatidae), in the Paranaguá Estuarine complex

Abstract

The chola guitarfish, Rhinobatos percellens, is one of the most-captured batoids on the Brazilian coast, and an important predator of benthic community. Stomachs from R. percellens were sampled in the Paranaguá estuarine complex (March/2006 to March/2007 and October/2008 to September/2009). The stomachs obtained were used for describing the diet of R. percellens, and verifying if there are seasonal and ontogenetic differences in their feeding into the estuarine area. The general analysis showed a specialized diet with a predominance of three species in food contents: Leptochela serratorbita, Caridea remains and Ogyrides alphaerostris. Ontogenetic and seasonal analysis did not reveal significant differences in the food consumption. These data reveal that R. percellens is a specialist predator of L. serratorbita, and this food component is consumed by all size classes.

Feeding ecology of elasmobranch species in southeastern Brazil

“…The diet of Psammobatis extenta, based on benthic crustaceans, mainly Leptochela sp., is similar to the diet of the ray Pseudobatos percellens on the central coast of Paraná, southern Brazil (Carmo et al, 2015). Polychaetes were also important in the diet, with predation focused not only on carnivorous polychaetes of the family Sigalionidae, but also on subsurface detritivores of the family Maldanidae.…”

“…These studies contribute to explaining the variations in growth, reproduction, migration and predation behavior. Changes in food availability in the environment can lead to changes in the diet of a species, and species with broad geographic distributions may also show differences in the proportion of items in their diets over their area of occurrence (Vianna et al, 2000;Bornatowski et al, 2014a;Carmo et al, 2015;Viana, Vianna, 2014;Estalles et al, 2015). In particular, knowledge of the feeding ecology of elasmobranchs is essential, as they play an important role in marine ecosystems, where they occupy the upper trophic levels (Vianna et al, 2000;Ebert, Bizzarro, 2007;Valls et al, 2011;Bornatowski et al, 2014c;Estalles et al, 2015).…”

Age and growth of three endemic threatened guitarfishes Pseudobatos horkelii, P. percellens and Zapteryx brevirostris in the western South Atlantic Ocean

“…The size range observed in the sample was slightly smaller for P. horkelii than the 22.0–138.0 cm L T reported by Vooren et al . () in southern Brazil, but slightly larger (17.2–72.6 cm) L T for P. percellens (Carmo et al ., ) and 35–56 cm L T for Z. brevirostris (Carmo et al ., ) in southern Brazil. Based on the size distribution, all size classes were represented for P. percellens and Z. brevirostris ( i.e ., neonates, juveniles and adults), including near‐term embryos for Z. brevirostris .…”

“…Despite the occurrence and distribution of these species along the south‐east to south coast of Brazil, most of the few studies undertaken to date have focused on reproduction (Abilhoa et al ., ; Batista, ; Colonello et al ., ; Lessa et al ., ; Martins et al ., ; Rocha & Gadig, ) and feeding habits (Bornatowski et al ., ; Carmo et al ., ; Marion et al ., ). The knowledge of other aspects of their basic biology, including age and growth parameters, is fairly limited and only available for P. horkelii and Z. brevirostris in southern Brazil (Carmo et al ., ; Lessa, ; Vooren et al ., ) and for P. Percellens in north‐eastern Brazil (Nunes, ).…”

“…Despite the occurrence and distribution of these species along the south-east to south coast of Brazil, most of the few studies undertaken to date have focused on reproduction (Abilhoa et al, 2007;Batista, 1991;Colonello et al, 2011;Lessa et al, 1986;Martins et al, 2018;Rocha & Gadig, 2012) and feeding habits (Bornatowski et al, 2010;Carmo et al, 2015;Marion et al, 2011).…”