The role of pelagic fish as forage for the demersal fish community in the southern Bay of Biscay

Preciado, Izaskun; Velasco, Francisco; Olaso, Ignacio

doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2007.04.007

Cited by 37 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Several of these species are commercially important (Coll et al 2006, Preciado et al 2008, Banaru et al 2012. Conservation of sardine and the suitable management of its fishery in the Gulf of Lions are therefore required to guarantee both socio-economic and ecological stability in the region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding of European pilchard (Sardina pilchardus) in the northwestern Mediterranean: from late larvae to adults

Costalago¹,

Palomera²

2014

Sci. Mar.

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Summary:We assessed the relative importance of different prey types of the European pilchard (European sardine) from the late larval to the adult stage. Two different methodologies for analysing stomach contents were used to describe the trophic dynamics of sardine and the relationship of sardine feeding behaviour with the ontogenetic development of body structures used for feeding, such as gill rakers and pyloric caeca. This information is essential to accurately depict the use of the planktonic resources in the area by sardine and to discuss the extent to which the sardine population could be affected by environmental changes in the Mediterranean Sea. We showed that cladocerans in summer and diatoms in winter were numerically the most important prey types for both juveniles and adults. However, decapod larvae were the most important prey during all seasons in terms of carbon content. Accordingly, differences in methodology should be considered in the analysis of sardine diets. An analysis of the composition of the plankton showed that small copepods were strongly selected by sardines at all ages and in both seasons. We also observed that the pyloric caeca began to grow when the sardines were approximately 4-5 cm standard length (SL) and ended their development when the sardines reached approximately 8 cm SL, whereas the gill rakers appeared to be completely functional when the sardines reached 7 cm SL. Therefore, filter feeding of small particles could be performed with total efficacy beginning at 7-8 cm SL. In view of the energetic advantage of filter feeding in a well-adapted filter-feeding species such as sardine, the prospective limited availability of small particles hypothesized by certain authors for the Mediterranean could have negative consequences for sardine. This study demonstrates that sardine populations, given their extremely high dependence on the lower marine trophic levels, could be strongly affected by alterations in the environment and in the planktonic community.Keywords: Sardina pilchardus; northwestern Mediterranean; ontogeny; trophic ecology; small pelagic fish. Alimentación de la sardina europea (Sardina pilchardus) en el Mediterráneo noroccidental: de post-larva a adultoResumen: Analizamos la importancia relativa de los diferentes tipos de presas de la sardina europea, desde post-larvas hasta adultos. Se usaron dos métodos diferentes de análisis de los contenidos estomacales para describir la dinámica trófica de la sardina y la relación de su comportamiento alimenticio con el desarrollo ontogénico de las estructuras corporales que usa en el proceso alimenticio, como las brianquispinas y los ciegos pilóricos. Esta información es esencial para obtener una imagen precisa de los recursos planctónicos de los que dispone la sardina en el área y para discutir de qué forma la población de sardina podría verse afectada por cambios medioambientales en el mar Mediterráneo. Mostramos que los cladóceros, en verano, y las diatomeas, en invierno, fueron los tipos de presas más importantes tanto para...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding of European pilchard (Sardina pilchardus) in the northwestern Mediterranean: from late larvae to adults

Costalago¹,

Palomera²

2014

Sci. Mar.

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“…These fluctuations create great challenges to fisheries management (ICES 2014). Moreover, sardine is a key forage species for small cetaceans, seabirds and fishes (Preciado et al 2008, Paiva et al 2013 and shifts in its abundance may trigger cascading effects in the pelagic ecosystem.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting the age of sardine juveniles (Sardina pilchardus) from otolith and fish morphometric characteristics

2015

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Summary: An age prediction model based on individual morphometric characteristics (total length; weight) and otolith morphometric characteristics (diameter; weight) was investigated for juvenile sardine, Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792). Juveniles were collected from northern Portugal between May 2004 and January 2005. Daily growth rings were counted on the otoliths of 114 juveniles of 7-16 cm total length. The sample was divided into a training sample used to develop the age prediction model and a test sample used to evaluate the predictive ability of the model. The best model for predicting the logarithm of age was a linear regression with otolith diameter. The prediction of daily age was more accurate for younger (<200 days) juveniles. Overall, ages predicted from the model were unbiased in relation to ages determined from otolith microincrement counts. Moreover, predicted daily ages reproduced the overall shape of the observed age distribution and provided comparable growth estimates (0.041 cm day -1 ). The back-calculated birthdate period ranged from 29 September 2003 to 22 July 2004, with a peak in January 2004, which is consistent with the spawning season. The model presented here could be used as a method for increasing the volume of juvenile daily age data. Since growth and survival varies spatially and temporally, relationships between age and otolith/fish morphometry should not be extrapolated outside sampled periods, areas and fish size/age.

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“…They exercise both top-down and bottom-up control on food webs (Cury et al, 2000), since they constitute the intermediate link in the flow of energy from lower to higher trophic levels (e.g. Tudela & Palomera, 1997;Palomera et al, 2007;Lomiri et al, 2008;Preciado et al, 2008;Espinoza et al, 2009;Coll & Libralato, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding and ecomorphology of three clupeoids in the N Aegean Sea

Karachle

Στεργίου

2013

Medit. Mar. Sci.

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This study examines the feeding habits of anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), sardine (Sardina pilchardus) and round sardinella (Sardinella aurita). The results are combined with previously published information on feeding-related morphological features (i.e. mouth area, intestine length and tail area) in order to explore morphological affinities between species and the effect of ecomorphology on their co-existence. These species were mainly zooplanktivorous and no dietary differences were found with sex and season. Anchovy preyed mainly on Crustacea larvae, whereas sardine and round sardinella on Copepoda. In the majority of cases (>90%), the individual fractional trophic level of all species ranged between 3.0 and 3.5, classifying them as omnivores with preference to animals. The feeding-related morphological features differed between anchovy and the two other species, whereas only intestine length differed between sardine and round sardinella. The fact that the diet and morphology of round sardinella show a greater resemblance to those of sardine further supports the hypothesis that round sardinella is a particulate feeder, as is sardine. Hence the three species tend to exploit the same food resources differently throughout the year. Thus, they make best use of the environment and its resources, in order to avoid competition and achieve optimum feeding conditions throughout their life cycles.

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The role of pelagic fish as forage for the demersal fish community in the southern Bay of Biscay

Cited by 37 publications

References 31 publications

Feeding of European pilchard (<em>Sardina pilchardus</em>) in the northwestern Mediterranean: from late larvae to adults

Feeding of European pilchard (<em>Sardina pilchardus</em>) in the northwestern Mediterranean: from late larvae to adults

Predicting the age of sardine juveniles (<em>Sardina pilchardus</em>) from otolith and fish morphometric characteristics

Feeding and ecomorphology of three clupeoids in the N Aegean Sea

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