Trophic ecology of yellownose skate <i>Zearaja chilensis</i>, a top predator in the south‐western Atlantic Ocean

Belleggia, Mauro; Andrada, Noelia; Paglieri, S.; Cortés, Federico; Massa, Ana M.; Figueroa, Daniel E.; Bremec, Claudia

doi:10.1111/jfb.12878

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Information about how teeth vary with ontogeny is not available, although this will impact the usefulness of row count for taxonomic purposes. Sexually dimorphic dentition has been reported in Z. chilensis, with sharp and conical (spike-shaped) teeth in mature male skates, while females have blunt 'oval shaped' teeth (Leible, 1987;Sáez & Lamilla, 1997;Belleggia et al, 2016). Such sexual dimorphism dentition was hypothesised to correlate with different diets between the sexes in batoids (Feduccia & Slaughter, 1974), but has since shown to facilitate the male grasp of the female pectoral fins to aid in the act of copulation (McEachran, 1977;Gutteridge & Bennett, 2014).…”

Section: Dentitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For Z. chilensis it has been shown that crustaceans form the main prey category for skates of < 50 cm LT (Bahamonde, 1953;De Buen, 1959;Sánchez & Prenski, 1996;Koen Alonso et al, 2001), which would result in a trophic level of about 3.5. However, Belleggia et al (2016) (Sánchez & Prenski, 1996;García de la Rosa, 1998;Lucifora et al, 2000;Paesch, 2000;Koen Alonso et al, 2001;Sánchez & Mabragaña, 2002;Belleggia et al, 2016), confirming their ecological role as a top predator.…”

Section: Feeding Habitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In both skates and rays, a change dental morphology occurs as a secondary sexual characteristic that is related to the males' need to be able to firmly grip the females' pectoral fin in their mouth for mating (Kajiura & Tricas, 1996;Sáez & Lamilla, 1997;Gutteridge & Bennett, 2014;Belleggia et al, 2016;Delpiani et al, 2017). The change in jaw and dental morphology is presumably related, functionally to hypertrophy of the mandibular abductor muscle.…”

Section: Morphological Cues Of Longnose Skatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Herman et al, 1995Herman et al, , 1996Kemp, 1999;Adnet & Cappetta, 2001;Lamilla & Sáez, 2003;Sáez & Lamilla, 2012), and while most studies provide descriptions of tooth morphology (Du Buit, 1978;Pequeño & Lamilla, 1985;Leible, 1987Leible, , 1988Zorzi & Anderson, 1988;Herman et al, 1995Herman et al, , 1996, relatively few address variation in tooth number and arrangement, mono-or dignathic heterodonty, malformation, dental sexual dimorphism and ontogenetic change or their relation to dietary intake (Bigelow & Schroeder, 1953;Leible, 1988;Motta, 2004;Gutteridge & Bennett, 2014;Belleggia et al, 2016).…”

Section: Dentitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Diet, food consumption and feeding habits of longnose skates have been studied for a number of species, mainly from by-catch fisheries of Patagonia (Koen Alonso et al, 2001, Belleggia et al, 2016, Tasmania (Treloar et al, 2007), Barents Sea (Dolgov et al, 2005), South Africa (Ebert et al, 1991), the north-west Atlantic Ocean (Templeman, 1982), and south-west Atlantic Ocean (Lucifora et al, 2000). In their analysis of skate diets, Ebert & Bizzarro (2007) showed that five species of Dipturus had estimated trophic levels of between 3.52 and 4.06, whereas Z. chilensis had a trophic level of 4.22, with the prey category 'teleost fishes' of the greatest dietary importance (81.8%)…”

Section: Feeding Habitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Skate-ing on thin ice: molecular ecology of longnose skates in the Southeast Pacific Ocean

Vargas-Caro¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Longnose skates may be one of the most vulnerable taxa of elasmobranch fishes, with documented local extinctions and population declines worldwide. Longnose skates are the main component of the commercial elasmobranch fisheries in the south-east Pacific Ocean, especially in Chilean waters where target and bycatch fisheries have led two species to the brink of collapse. The yellownose skate Zearaja chilensis and the roughskin skate Dipturus trachyderma are endemic of southern South America yet little is known about population ecology and stock structure.Additionally, the external morphology of longnose skates is remarkably similar, especially in early life stages, and a lack of accurate species identification has compromised official landings records which in turn has impacted fishery management. Overall abundance of longnose skates has declined substantially over the last decade due to intensive fishing pressure and the fishery is considered to be `fully exploited'.Based on all available information in peer-reviewed and grey literature, a comparative synthesis of the biology and ecology was conducted on Z. chilensis and D. trachyderma. A positive increase in relation to scientific knowledge over the past decade was noticeable, although several basic aspects of their biology and ecology are still missing. There is an urgent need to fill knowledge gaps on, for example, movement patterns, feeding ecology and habitat use, population size and structure, and levels of connectivity. In this study, taxonomic clarity was provided, and relevant information with regard to the biology, ecology and fisheries that interact with longnose skates was collated.Confusion of identity between longnose skates occurs to the present day. In order to address this issue, morphometric and genetic tools are provided to aid in species identification of early-life stage specimens. Thirty-seven morphometric measurements and three meristic characters were used to identify specimens. These results suggest that the number of midline, nuchal and inter-dorsal thorns could be used to discriminate between specimens of Z. chilensis and D. trachyderma. Previously, the presence of a single nuchal thorn was considered to be a feature that could be used to separate species, however, this morphological feature has proven to be variable in Z. chilensis. Additionally, partial sequences of the 16S, cox1, nadh2 and the control regions of the mitochondrial DNA were amplified and analysed for intraspecific and interspecific divergence. Amplified fragments of cox1 gene and the control region contained information to separate the target species; however, specimens of D. trachyderma and Z. chilensis were grouped indistinctly within a single clade using 16S and nadh2 fragments.-iiiThe evolutionary history of Zearaja was also explored, in a broad taxonomic context by using whole mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) to understand higher-level phylogenetic relationships among batoids. A data set of 56 mitogenomes of 47 batoids and four outgroups was analysed. O...

show abstract

Section: Dentitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Feeding Habitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Morphological Cues Of Longnose Skatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dentitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Feeding Habitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Skate-ing on thin ice: molecular ecology of longnose skates in the Southeast Pacific Ocean

Vargas-Caro¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Parasites as tags for stock identification of a highly exploited vulnerable skate Dipturus brevicaudatus (Chondrichthyes: Rajidae) in the south‐western Atlantic Ocean, a complementary tool for its conservation

Irigoitia

Levy

Canel

et al. 2022

Aquatic Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

1. Populations of chondrichthyans are particularly sensitive to elevated fishing mortality due to their low reproductive potential and very low population growth.2. Dipturus brevicaudatus is a common and endemic skate from waters of Argentina and is frequently caught as by-catch and is therefore extremely vulnerable to commercial fishing. There are signs of overfishing in both the northern and southern Argentine Sea and the species has been classified as 'Vulnerable' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. 3. A parasitological examination of 96 skates revealed 1,913 individual macroparasites belonging to 18 species and one myxozoan. Three parasite species were long-lived and were suitable biological tags, resulting in statistically significant differences between North Patagonic and both Buenos Aires and South Patagonic regions and therefore can be used to identify stocks of D. brevicaudatus. The inclusion of short-lived parasites in the analyses suggested the existence of three stocks. 4. Parasite assemblages from the northern Argentine Sea (Buenos Aires, Argentine biogeographical province) and from Patagonian waters (North and South Patagonic, Magellanic biogeographical province) varied in terms of parasite infracommunity species richness and the relative abundance of parasite guilds.5. Using parasites to infer the existence of three stocks of D. brevicaudatus provides the basis to help establishing management and recovery strategies to preserve the diversity of this vulnerable skate in the south-west Atlantic Ocean.6. Due to the low host specificity of the long-lived parasite tags, there is potential to extend this methodology to other skate species that are commercially exploited in the region, whose population structures remain unknown.

show abstract

Trophic relationships of 13 small to medium-sized elasmobranchs in Central Patagonia, Southwestern Atlantic

Pasti,

Bovcon,

Rincón-Díaz

et al. 2024

Aquat Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Trophic ecology of yellownose skate Zearaja chilensis, a top predator in the south‐western Atlantic Ocean

Cited by 18 publications

References 49 publications

Skate-ing on thin ice: molecular ecology of longnose skates in the Southeast Pacific Ocean

Skate-ing on thin ice: molecular ecology of longnose skates in the Southeast Pacific Ocean

Parasites as tags for stock identification of a highly exploited vulnerable skate Dipturus brevicaudatus (Chondrichthyes: Rajidae) in the south‐western Atlantic Ocean, a complementary tool for its conservation

Trophic relationships of 13 small to medium-sized elasmobranchs in Central Patagonia, Southwestern Atlantic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About