Feeding Ecology of Dolphinfish in the Western Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus support important commercial and recreational fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. Understanding the feeding ecology of this economically important pelagic fish is key to its sustainable management; however, dietary data from this region are sparse. We conducted a comprehensive diet study to develop new trophic baselines and investigate potential ontogenetic and sex‐related shifts in Dolphinfish feeding ecology. The stomach contents of 357 Dolphinfish (27.6–148.5 cm TL) were visually examined from fishery‐dependent sources off Port Aransas, Texas. Our analyses revealed a highly piscivorous diet with Actinopterygii comprising 70.44% of the stomach contents by number. The most commonly observed taxa were carangid (12.45%N) and tetraodontiform (12.08%N; families Balistidae, Monacanthidae, and Tetraodontidae) fishes. Malacostracans were also common (24.83%N), mostly in the form of pelagic megalopae. Other prey categories included squid and the critically endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtles Lepidochelys kempii. Although increasingly commom in larger fish, Sargassum spp. was found across a range of sizes in Dolphinfish, indicating that these fish feed from this drifting macroalgae throughout ontogeny. An ontogenetic shift from primary consumption of carangids and brachyurans in smaller size‐classes to tetraodontids, monocanthids, and squid in larger size‐classes was also observed. No sex‐related difference in diet was observed. The overall infection rate for gastric parasites was 54%, an order of magnitude increase from that previously reported in the region, but consistent with recent studies from other areas. Trematode parasites in the genus Dinurus were found in 55% of stomachs and nematode parasites of the family Raphidascarididae in 16% of stomachs. Overall, Dolphinfish in the western Gulf of Mexico are highly opportunistic carnivores with a gastrointestinal parasite burden consistent with that reported in other ocean basins. These data will be important for sustainable management of this economically important species. Received November 20, 2015; accepted February 17, 2016 Published online June 24, 2016

Ingestion of macroplastics by common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) in the Atlantic Ocean

“…being removed from an ecosystem, therefore play an important role in the trophic structure (Olson and Galván-Magaña, 2002;Varghese et al, 2013). Since this species is commonly associated with floating offshore objects, for example, fish aggregating devices or floating beds of Sargassum spp., it is an easy target for fisheries worldwide (Manooch et al, 1984;Massutí, et al, 1998;Rudershausen et al, 2010;Brewton et al, 2016). This study is the first to report on the largest macroplastic debris found in the stomach of the common dolphinfish, C. hippurus in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean.…”

“…Plastic debris has been reported worldwide in the stomachs of the common dolphinfish. For instance, pieces of plastic bags, a plastic bowl, pieces of rope, polyethylene sheets, wrappers, bottle caps, plastic ribbons, and even a badminton shuttlecock have been found in dolphinfish from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean (Manooch et al, 1983;Massutí et al, 1998;Vaske Junior and Lessa, 2004;Rudeershausen et al, 2010;Vanghese et al, 2013;Choy and Drazen, 2013;Brewton et al, 2016;Menezes et al, 2019). This large epipelagic species is known to be a voracious top predator, feeding on a wide range of pelagic and demersal organisms, including cephalopods, crustaceans, and several fish belonging to the Carangidae, Balistidae, Tetraodontidae, Exocoetidae, and Scombridae families (Massutí, et al, 1998;Carbonell et al, 1999;Varghese et al, 2013;Brewton et al, 2016).…”

“…For instance, pieces of plastic bags, a plastic bowl, pieces of rope, polyethylene sheets, wrappers, bottle caps, plastic ribbons, and even a badminton shuttlecock have been found in dolphinfish from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean (Manooch et al, 1983;Massutí et al, 1998;Vaske Junior and Lessa, 2004;Rudeershausen et al, 2010;Vanghese et al, 2013;Choy and Drazen, 2013;Brewton et al, 2016;Menezes et al, 2019). This large epipelagic species is known to be a voracious top predator, feeding on a wide range of pelagic and demersal organisms, including cephalopods, crustaceans, and several fish belonging to the Carangidae, Balistidae, Tetraodontidae, Exocoetidae, and Scombridae families (Massutí, et al, 1998;Carbonell et al, 1999;Varghese et al, 2013;Brewton et al, 2016). This ingestion of a wide range of prey, which has been associated with the dolphinfish's opportunistic, voracious feeding nature, can increase the probability of the passive intake of plastic through prey (i.e., secondary ingestion), especially in large predatory fish such as the dolphinfish (Massutí et al, 1998;Varghese et al, 2013;Alomar et al, 2017;Neto et al, 2020).…”

Variações na forma do otólito sagitta de Coryphaena hippurus (Actinopterygii: Coryphaenidae) em uma área de ressurgência na costa sudoeste do Oceano Atlântico

“…Uma das hipóteses que pode suportar a presença dos quatro morfotipos está relacionada aos hábitos alimentares da espécie, i.e., um predador de topo com uma dieta baseada, predominantemente, no consumo de espécies epipelágicas com ampla ocorrência, associada à elevada produtividade na região -ressurgência de Cabo Frio (Valentin & Coutinho, 1990). Alguns autores têm reportado diferenças ontogenéticas e sazonais na dieta da espécie, estando tais variações associadas a distintos fatores (Oxenford & Hunte, 1999;Brewton et al, 2016), entre os quais se destaca a habilidade natatória da espécie, que permite a mesma explorar presas diversas em áreas distintas inclusive mais distantes da costa (Massutí et al, 1998). Além da alimentação outros atributos bionômicos, como o crescimento e a reprodução, também podem responder pelas conformações dos otólitos (Rossi-Wongtschowski, 2015).…”

Growth and metabolic responses of orange spotted grouper Epinephelus coioides (Hamilton, 1822) fingerlings at different salinity regimes

“…Information on reproductive biology is an essential component in the study of the population dynamics and biology of any fish species (Hunter et al, 1992;Murua and Saborido-Rey, 2003). Several investigations were conducted to study the reproductive biology of C. hippurus from various parts of the world (Arocha et al, 1999;Castro et al, 1999;Wu et al, 2001;Zuniga-Flores et al, 2011;Furukawa et al, 2012;Santos et al, 2014;Gatt et al, 2015;Brewton et al, 2016). Despite the fact that C. hippurus is a commercially important fish contributing significantly to the Indian marine fishery, a detailed report on reproductive biology of C. hippurus is not available from the tropical Arabian Sea, except a few reports focusing on some aspects of reproductive biology (Rajesh et al, 2016;Vinod Kumar et al, 2017;Saroj et al, 2018).…”