Diet and food consumption of the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) in South Pacific Antarctic waters

Abstract

The Patagonian toothfish, Dissostichus eleginoides, is a fish with high commercial value in all countries bordering the southern cone of Pacific and Atlantic waters. Like most fishing landings, the fishing status of the toothfish has collapsed, and thus ecosystem-based fisheries management is needed in Antarctic waters. Therefore, the stomach contents, stable isotopes, and gastric evacuation and food consumption rates were analyzed to describe the diet and infer possible prey species of individuals of Dissostichus eleginoides in the Antarctic Pacific Ocean. The results show that rattails and hakes were the most important prey in the diet of the Patagonian toothfish, composing 54.1 and 33.3% of the diet, respectively. The gastric evacuation rate was 1.8 g h−1, and the rate of food consumption was 2.1% of the body weight, which indicates that D. eleginoides is a predator with frequent feeding behavior and a high predation rate in the deep waters above the continental platform.