First record of predation between Dasyatis species

Abstract

This note reports the occurrence of a congener, Dasyatis marianae, in the diet. This is the first record of predation between Dasyatis species.

Buried in the sand: Uncovering the ecological roles and importance of rays

“…Barbini & Lucifora, 2011). Similarly, adult female southern stingrays ( Hypanus americanus , Dasyatidae ) have been found with large‐eye stingrays ( Hypanus marianae , Dasyatidae) in their stomachs (Branco‐Nunes, Albuquerque, Nunes, Oliveira, & Hazin, 2016). Stingray (Dasyatidae) spines have been found in wedgefish, guitarfish and sawfish jaws (Dean, Bizzarro, Clark, Underwood, & Johanson, 2017), while stingray DNA was identified in faecal samples of the smalltooth sawfish ( Pristis pectinata, Pristidae) along with a stingray tail in the mouth of a captured individual (Poulakis et al., 2017).…”

Trophic ecology of three stingrays (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) off the Brazilian north‐eastern coast: Habitat use and resource partitioning

“…Although trophic level estimate based on stomach contents found H. berthalutzae fed at TL < 4, the trophic level estimated based on stable isotope analysis exceeded the expected value for the Dasyatidae family (Jacobsen & Bennett, 2012;Tilley et al, 2013). The reported predation of H. berthalutzae on H. marianae (Branco- Nunes, Albuquerque, et al, 2016) was not observed in this study, but may have been reflected in its isotopic composition, elevating its trophic level to that observed for benthic feeding sharks, such as Sphyrna zygaena Linnaeus, 1758, and Rhizoprionodon lalandii (Müller & Henle, 1839) (Bornatowski et al, 2014). This discrepancy highlights the importance of using a combined stable isotope and stomach content approach to estimate trophic position.…”

“…While isotopic niche analysis indicated a degree of niche overlap between the three Hypanus species, SCA indicated differential exploitation rates of prey types, trophic position estimates were variable among species and a previous predation record between H. marianae and H. berthalutzae (Branco‐Nunes, Albuquerque, et al ., 2016) demonstrate these three demersal meesopredators play different functional roles in the ecosystems they inhabit.…”

Dietary composition and trophic level of Hypanus marianae (Myliobatiformes: Dasyatidae), captured off Pernambuco coast, Brazil

“…Hypanus marianae in Brazil occupies a trophic level (TL = 3.6) similar to H. americanus (TL = 3.52) in the Caribbean (Tilley et al, 2013), Urotrygon aspidura (TL = 3.7) and U. rogersi (TL = 3.5) in Colombia (Navia et al, 2016), N. kuhlii (TL = 3.58), Neotrygon annotata (TL = 3.57), and Neotrygon picta (TL = 3.55) in Australia (Jacobsen & Bennett, 2012), Rhinoptera bonasus (TL = 3.4) in Brazil (Bornatowski et al, 2014) and Myliobatis goodei (TL = 3.2) in Patagonia (Molina & Cazorla, 2015), because their diet is based mainly on invertebrates. Similarly, to other Myliobatiformes mesopredators (O'Gorman & Emmerson, 2009), H. marianae can play an important ecological role in the environment, controlling the populations of reef invertebrates used as prey, and being food source of other species (Vaudo & Heithaus, 2011) such as reef sharks (Costa et al, 2015) and other stingrays such as H. americanus (Branco-Nunes et al, 2016). Linking top predators to lower trophic levels, this species can promote the energy flow of the ecosystems it inhabits.…”