Abstract
ABSTRACT The squirrelfish, Sargocentron rubrum (Forsskal, 1775), is a successful Suez Canal immigrant common along the Mediterranean coast of Israel and caught occasionally in small quantities in commercial catch by trammel net and by hook-and-line. Monthly samples of stomach contents of this fish caught off 'Akko (Acre), Israel, from October 1979 to October 1980 were examined. Decapoda constituted the bulk of the diet, the remainder being Polychaeta, Isopoda, Mollusca and fishes. S. rubrum feeds intensively in summer and lightly in winter. Seasonal predominance of each taxon in the diet was measured by an alimentary coefficient calculated as a product of the frequency and weight percentages. Brachyura constituted 77.8% in summer, 94.7% in fall and winter; Anomura constituted 82.4% in spring. Pisidia longimana, Portunus hastatus, Xantho spp. and Pilumnus hirtellus were the most commonly-found prey. No preference for feeding on Suez Canal invertebrate immigrants of Red Sea origin was observed. It is conclu...
Published Version
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