Skip Navigation



JPR Advance Access published online on March 19, 2008
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbn039
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Morote, E.
Right arrow Articles by Uriarte, I.
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Morote, E.
Right arrow Articles by Uriarte, I.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

DIET OF ROUND SARDINELLA, Sardinella aurita, LARVAE IN RELATION TO PLANKTON AVAILABILITY IN THE NW MEDITERRANEAN

E. Morote1,*, M. P. Olivar1, F. Villate2 and I. Uriarte2

1 Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (CSIC), Paseo Marítimo de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain 2 Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad del País Vasco, Campus de Leioa, Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, Spain

* Corresponding author: morote{at}icm.csic.es

Received on January 22, 2008; revised on March 12, 2008; accepted on March 16, 2008


  Abstract

The present study analyses for the first time the diet of larvae of the clupeid Sardinella aurita in the NW Mediterranean. Gut contents of larvae from first feeding (3.9 mm) to early postflexion stages (14.7 mm) were analysed. The type and abundance of ingested prey were related to the plankton composition in the environment in order to determine prey-type selectivity. The feeding incidence observed was among the highest reported for clupeid larvae, with higher values during the day (68.6%) than at night (7.7%), indicating that Sardinella aurita larvae are diurnal predators. The mean number of ingested prey was 3.3 (± 2.51). The width of the prey increased from <30 to 410 µm with the development of the larvae, but the niche breadth did not vary with the size of the larvae. The diet was based on different stages of copepods (nauplii and postnauplii) and cladocerans (mainly Evadne spp.), though the preference for each type of prey varied, with higher preference for copepod nauplii in larvae <8 mm and a higher preference for Evadne sp. in larvae =8 mm. The copepod based diet of S. aurita larvae is very similar to that reported for E. encrasicolus larvae in the Mediterranean, indicating a possible competition for food between the first-feeding larvae in situations of low prey abundance.

Key Words: round sardinella larvae • diet • selectivity • plankton composition • NW Mediterranean

Communicating Editor: Dr Roger Harris


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.