Diet composition of the deep-water rose shrimp, Parapenaeus longirostris (Decapoda, Dendrobranchiata, Penaeidae), from the Algerian west coast

Abstract

Abstract The deep-water rose shrimp, Parapenaeus longirostris (H. Lucas, 1846), is the most dominant shrimp species on the Algerian west coast. In that area, the diet of P. longirostris was studied between July 2020 and June 2021. This approach to the diet of the rose shrimp was based on analysis of the stomach contents and determination of the ingested prey. A seasonal sampling was carried out in the main fishing ports (Béni Saf, Bouzedjar, Oran and Mostaganem). The results obtained showed that the shrimp feed intensively in spring and increasingly less in winter and summer. Crustaceans, foraminiferans, polychaetes, and molluscs constituted the most frequent preys in the diet, with respective frequencies of 58.85, 55.95, 36.63 and 32.04%. Small microplancton and mesoplancton prey (radiolarians, copepods, and various larvae) were less important in the diet of P. longirostris. Fish and echinoderms constitute accidental prey, of which the frequency is less than 10%.