Trophic Comparison of Two Species of Needlefish (Belonidae) in the Alvarado Lagoonal System, Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

We compared the diets of Atlantic needlefish, Strongylura marina, and redfin needlefish, Strongylura notata, in the Alvarado lagoonal system, Veracruz, Mexico, and analyzed diet breadth and trophic overlap between the species. All fishes were collected monthly from June 2000 to July 2001 at twelve sampling stations. A total of 74 intestinal tracts from S. marina were analyzed. The diet of S. marina consisted of 25 prey types with fish being the dominate prey. In eighty-nine digestive tracts examined from S. notata, the diet consisted of 29 prey types with the dominant prey including fishes, penaeid shrimp, polychaetes, and hymenopteran insects. There was moderate diet overlap (α = 0.4903) between S. marina and S. notata in the rainy season, while there was little diet overlap between species during the "nortes" (α = 0.1037) or dry (α = 0.1675) season. There was reduced niche breadth in both S. marina and S. notata during the "nortes" (BA = 0.175 and 0.105, respectively) and dry (BA = 0.128 and 0.173, respectively) seasons, with niche breadth values being higher for both species during the rainy season (BA = 0.254 and 0.296, respectively). RESUMEN Se realizó una comparación de la dieta de los belonidos, Strongylura marina y Strongylura notata, en el sistema lagunar de Alvarado, Veracruz, México, analizando la amplitud de dieta y el solapamiento trófico de ambas especies. Los organismos se colectaron mensualmente en el período de junio de 2000 a julio de 2001 en 12 estaciones de muestreo. Se analizaron 74 tractos digestivos de S. marina. La dieta de S. marina consiste de 25 tipos de presa de los cuales los peces constituyeron la presa dominante. Para S. notata se analizaron 89 tractos digestivos, la dieta de esta especie comprendió 29 tipos de presas diferentes, siendo los peces, camarón, poliquetos e himenópteros las presas dominantes para esta especie. El solapamiento trófico entre S. marina y S. notata fue moderado (α = 0.4903) en la época de lluvias, disminuyendo en las épocas de nortes (α = 0.1037) y secas (α = 0.1675). La amplitud del nicho trófico para S. marina y S. notata fue baja en nortes (BA = 0.175 y 0.105, respectivamente) y en secas (BA = 0.128 y 0.173, respectivamente), siendo mayor para ambas especies en la época de lluvias (BA = 0.254 y 0.296, respectivamente).

Feeding ecology of juvenile marine fish in a shallow coastal lagoon of southeastern Mexico

“…The six species of fish examined are considered to be marine migrants (Castro-Aguirre et al, 1999;Elliott et al, 2007) that use shallow waters as nurseries, refuge, and feeding grounds. They are carnivorous species, mainly piscivores with stenophagy and trophic specialization (Carr & Adams, 1973;Arceo-Carranza et al, 2004;Cocheret de la Morinière et al, 2004;Cruz-Escalona et al, 2005;Guevara et al, 2007). Even if many marine fish species exhibit marked changes in their diet according to the temporal availability of prey and life stage of individuals (Blaber, 1997;Platell et al, 1997;Hajisamae, 2009), our observations allow to say that five of them show a relatively homogeneous diet over time since the overall occurrence of these species within the study area is low (Gallardo-Torres et al, 2012).…”

“…There are no reports on the feeding habits of this species in the Gulf of Mexico but, off the coast of Italy, Synodus saurus is also a piscivorous species that feeds on small fish like sardines and anchovies (Esposito et al, 2009). The needlefish, S. notata, is considered a piscivore (Carr & Adams, 1973;Arceo-Carranza et al, 2004) that obtains prey throughout the water column, as demonstrated by the presence of both demersal and pelagic components in the diet (Arceo-Carranza et al, 2004). Even if in this study juvenile and adult fish were analyzed, the low number of fish collected prevented to formally compare between size classes but it has been shown that this species displays ontogenetic changes in its diet (Arceo-Carranza, 2002;Hajisamae, 2009).…”

“…Even if in this study juvenile and adult fish were analyzed, the low number of fish collected prevented to formally compare between size classes but it has been shown that this species displays ontogenetic changes in its diet (Arceo-Carranza, 2002;Hajisamae, 2009). Arceo-Carranza et al (2004) found that S. notata from the Alvarado Lagoon, Mexico, is an active predator with great trophic plasticity to exploit the available resources in the environment (fish, shrimp, and insects among other prey types) while in the clearer waters of the northwestern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula it behaves as a piscivorous species. Diet breadth of predators tends to increase when food availability is low, and decreases when food availability is high (Tse et al, 2008).…”

Variación estacional y nictémera en la distribución de Beloniformes (Pisces) en la boca de una laguna costera tropical

“…Así, juveniles y adultos de las especies de los géneros Strongylura, Tylosurus (Belonidae) e Hyporamphus (Hemiramphidae) habitan con frecuencia en sistemas estuarinos, tanto del norte (De Angelo et al, 2014;La Peyre y Birdsong, 2008;Tolan y Nelson, 2009), como del sur del golfo de México (Arévalo-Frías y Mendoza-Carranza, 2015;Castillo-Rivera et al, 2002Díaz-Ruiz et al, 2018;Raz-Guzmán et al, 2018;Vega-Cendejas y Hernández, 2004), donde pueden llegar a ser especies moderadamente abundantes (Collette, 2002). No obstante, existen pocos estudios publicados sobre la ecología de estas especies, lo cual en parte se puede deber a su poca importancia dentro de las grandes pesquerías (Arceo-Carranza y Chiappa-Carrara, 2015;Arceo-Carranza et al, 2004;Collette et al, 2019;Egbert y Rulifson, 2017;Porter y Motta, 2004).…”