Abstract
Food habits of Bathyraja brachyurops were studied based on stomach content analyses of 346 specimens collected from research cruises carried out from 2003 to 2005 on the Argentinean continental shelf (36oS-55oS). A total of 265 stomachs (76.6%) contained food, and thirty-five taxonomic levels of prey were identified. The most important prey were fishes followed by isopods. Trophic level analysis revealed that B. brachyurops is a tertiary consumer throughout its life history. There were no differences between sexes and regions in the diet composition, but dietary shifts with ontogeny were found. The Levins’ standardized index indicated wider niche breadth for small skates, whereas larger skate specimens showed a narrow niche breadth with a specialization in fishes.
Highlights
The skates of the family Rajidae are found worldwide in marine waters, and are distributed from shallow coastal shelves to abyssal regions (McEachran and Miyake, 1990)
SUMMARY: Food habits of Bathyraja brachyurops were studied based on stomach content analyses of 346 specimens collected from research cruises carried out from 2003 to 2005 on the Argentinean continental shelf (36oS-55oS)
Trophic level analysis revealed that B. brachyurops is a tertiary consumer throughout its life history
Summary
The skates of the family Rajidae are found worldwide in marine waters, and are distributed from shallow coastal shelves to abyssal regions (McEachran and Miyake, 1990). They are a significant link of food webs in benthic communities (Orlov, 1998) and may play influential roles in the food webs of demersal marine communities (Ebert and Bizzarro, 2007). Like other cartilaginous fishes, are characterized by slow growth, late attainment of sexual maturity and lower fecundity than teleost fishes (Stevens et al, 2000). Further studies on the biology and ecology of skates are needed for proper management of these fisheries
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