Knotting: A Previously Undescribed Feeding Behavior in Muraenid Eels

Miller, Tracy J.

doi:10.2307/1445576

Cited by 23 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…We believe that this generally also applies to G. ocellatus, since during a very dark moonless night dive, fish baits tightly sealed inside clear plastic bags failed to attract sand morays before opened. The knotting behavior reported here for G. ocellatus was already described by Miller (1987Miller ( , 1989 for four other genera and eight species of muraenid eels. We thus regard G. ocellatus as a carcinophagous-piscivorous nocturnal predator feeding on bottom prey, located primarily by the sense of smell.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…If the dead fishes were smaller than about 25% of the moray's length, they were quickly swallowed whole. If larger, the morays applied the knotting behavior (see Miller 1987Miller , 1989) to bend the fish or remove pieces from it (Fig. 3).…”

Section: Feeding Behaviour and Dietmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The prey is located primarily by smell, and some moray species are known to use a knotting behavior to break up large prey items (Miller, 1987(Miller, , 1989. The muraenid genus Gymnothorax has a worldwide distribution and is represented by five species off the southeastern coast of Brazil: G. funebris Ranzani, 1839, G. moringa (Cuvier 1829, G. vicinus (Castelnau 1855), G. conspersus Poey, 1867, and G. ocellatus Agassiz, 1831 (Figueiredo & Menezes 1978, Böhlke et al 1989.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Activity, habitat utilization, feeding behaviour, and diet of the sand moray Gymnothorax ocellatus (Anguilliformes, Muraenidae) in the south western Atlantic

Santos¹,

Castro

2003

Biota Neotrop.

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Activity, habitat utilization, feeding behaviour, and diet of the sand moray Gymnothorax ocellatus (Anguilliformes, Muraenidae) in the South western Atlantic.The sand moray Gymnothorax ocellatus is a nocturnal predator from the western South Atlantic that actively forages on the bottom, preying mostly on crustaceans (mainly shrimps and crabs) and ray-finned fishes, which are located primarily by the sense of smell. The individuals stay stationary during the day, almost always being hidden in individual tunnels dug by animals other than the morays in the muddy sand bottom.Key words: Muraenidae; Gymnothorax ocellatus; habitat use; feeding behaviour; diet. ResumoAtividade, utilização do habitat, comportamento alimentar, e dieta da moréia-de-areia Gymnothorax ocellatus (Anguilliformes, Muraenidae) no Atlântico sudoeste.A moréia-de-areia Gymnothorax ocellatus é um predador noturno do Atlântico ocidental que forrageia ativamente o fundo, predando principalmente crustáceos (em especial camarões e siris) e peixes actinopterígios, os quais são localizados principalmente pelo olfato. Os indivíduos permanecem inativos durante o dia, quase sempre escondidos em túneis individuais escavados por outros animais, que não moréias, em substrato areno-lodoso. Palavras

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Feeding Behaviour and Dietmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Activity, habitat utilization, feeding behaviour, and diet of the sand moray Gymnothorax ocellatus (Anguilliformes, Muraenidae) in the south western Atlantic

Santos¹,

Castro

2003

Biota Neotrop.

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“…Rather, other variables such as encounter rates, capture rates, or handling times could limit the sizes of kelp bass prey in the California moray’s diet. California morays, similar to other morays (Miller 1987 , 1989 ) or eel species (Helfman and Clark 1986 ), are known to ram, shake, knot, or use body rotations, to force large prey into their mouths or to remove pieces from larger prey items. In a previous study, we showed that prey size increased total feeding time and prey manipulation duration when morays were fed dead fish or cephalopod prey (Diluzio et al 2017 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eat whole and less often: ontogenetic shift reveals size specialization on kelp bass by the California moray eel, Gymnothorax mordax

Higgins¹,

Law²,

Mehta³

2018

Oecologia

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Despite the importance of predation in many ecosystems, gaps remain in our understanding of nocturnal marine predators. Although the kelp forests of Southern California are some of the most well-studied ecosystems, California morays, Gymnothorax mordax, are predominately nocturnal predators that have remained largely unstudied and their predatory effects on the kelp forest ecosystem are unknown. We use a multi-year data set to examine the dietary breadth of G. mordax and to determine the functional role of this predator. We also quantify bite force to examine the potential performance limitations of morays in exploiting prey. Stomach content analyses and linear selectivity index values indicate that G. mordax specializes on kelp bass, Paralabrax clathratus. Average size of kelp bass consumed varies across years, suggesting that morays respond to fluctuations in prey size availability. The scaling relationship of kelp bass standard length and moray head length reveals an ontogenetic shift, where maximum prey size increases with moray size and small prey are dropped from the diet of larger individuals. Moray bite force exhibited strong positive allometry with moray head size, suggesting that larger morays exhibit greater bite forces for their head and body size. However, we found no relationship between prey size and bite force, suggesting that a disproportional increase in bite force does not facilitate the consumption of disproportionately larger prey. Our results indicate that while G. mordax of Catalina Island is a dietary specialist, it is capable of exhibiting functional shifts in prey size and species based on their abundance.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s00442-018-4260-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…The association may be advantageous to both the shrimp and the fishes. Morays feed by tearing their prey (Miller, 1987(Miller, , 1989 and are unable to clean the scales and mucus from their teeth and bodies. The shrimp can serve as dentists and garbage collectors in the lair of the moray.…”

Section: Laboratory Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions with fishes of five species of Lysmata (Decapoda, Caridea, Lysmatidae)

Wicksten

2009

Crustac

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Knotting: A Previously Undescribed Feeding Behavior in Muraenid Eels

Cited by 23 publications

References 0 publications

Activity, habitat utilization, feeding behaviour, and diet of the sand moray Gymnothorax ocellatus (Anguilliformes, Muraenidae) in the south western Atlantic

Activity, habitat utilization, feeding behaviour, and diet of the sand moray Gymnothorax ocellatus (Anguilliformes, Muraenidae) in the south western Atlantic

Eat whole and less often: ontogenetic shift reveals size specialization on kelp bass by the California moray eel, Gymnothorax mordax

Interactions with fishes of five species of Lysmata (Decapoda, Caridea, Lysmatidae)

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