Feeding guilds among batoids in the northwest coast of the Baja California Sur, Mexico

Abstract

Research on the feeding habits of batoids provides information of intra and interspecific interactions of this taxon in marine ecosystems. We analyzed 832 stomachs of nine ray species collected from the artisanal fishery on the Northwest coast of Baja California Sur (NBCS). We identified 79 prey items assembled in five trophic groups (crustaceans, fish, mollusks, polychaetes, and sipunculidae). Results indicated that the red crab Pleuroncodes planipes was the most important prey in the diet of the seven batoid species. A low dietary similarity of the rays was observed, which evidenced different feeding strategies. In this regard, we identified four well‐separated trophic guilds. Each guild was characterized by the consumption of specific prey: (1) Hypanus dipterurus and Narcine entemedor that fed mostly on polychaetes; (2) Rostroraja velezi and Gymnura marmorata fed mostly on fishes (Clupeidae and Batrachoididae); (3) Hypanus longus, Myliobatis californica, and Platyrhinoidis triseriata fed on crustaceans (Munnidae) and Sipunculus worms; and (4) Pseudobatos productus and Zapteryx exasperata fed on crustaceans (Portunidae) and fishes (Synodontidae and Batrachoididae). We concluded that batoids off the NBCS show prey sharing between the different species.

A diverse assemblage of Ptychodus species (Elasmobranchii: Ptychodontidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Ukraine, with comments on possible diversification drivers during the Cenomanian

“…For example, dental cusps are absent in the dentition of extant guitarfishes (Batomorphii, Elasmobranchii), such as Rhina ancylostoma and Zapteryx exasperate (see Herman et al, 1997 ; Berkovitz and Shellis, 2017 ). Nevertheless, their un-cuspidate dental plates do not prevent these batoids from occasionally consuming small teleost fishes in addition to their main prey (e.g., crustaceans; Purushottama et al, 2022 ; Reyes-Ramíre et al, 2022 ). In elasmobranchs, variation of the “niche breadth” ( sensu Bazzi et al, 2021 ) is crucial for avoiding resource competition between predators with similar trophic adaptations, such as dental plates in batoids (see Bornatowski et al, 2014 ; Munroe et al, 2014 ; Lear et al, 2021 ).…”

Trophic network structure and dynamics simulations of the rocky–reef ecosystem of Yelapa, Mexican Pacific

“…For the construction of the diet matrix, the information was obtained from the literature (e.g., Sampson et al, 2010;Flores-Ortega et al, 2014;Hermosillo-Núñez et al, 2018;Calderon-Aguilera et al, 2021;Reyes-Ramírez et al, 2022) from studies carried out in sites close to the location of this study. It is important to mention that a recent study has showed that interaction matrices based on stomach content analysis is enough robust for assessing the trophic complexity and macroscopic properties (Ortiz, 2018).…”