Abstract
We analyzed the stomach contents of 2915 individuals of the whitemouth croaker, Micropogonias furnieri, ranging from 15.6 to 42.0 cm total length, collected from a coastal lagoon in Rocha, Uruguay, during 1997–1999. A total of 56% (n = 1646) of individuals were found with content in their stomachs. Six food items were identified and classified as crustaceans (49%), polychaetes (26%), vegetal debris (15%), molluscs, juvenile fishes, and unidentified contents, the latter three representing less than 5% of the total stomach contents. Fishes displayed a higher proportion of stomachs with food between February and August 1998, simultaneous with a low gonadosomatic index and a decrease in water temperature. Crustaceans were the dominant food item from November 1997 to March 1998 and from November to December 1998 (austral summer), whereas polychaetes were predominant from April to October 1998 and from January to February 1999. Availability of polychaetes and their higher frequency of occurrence in the stomachs before the reproductive period could play an important role in the reproduction of the species. Feeding frequency was correlated with length classes. Smaller fishes (<25 cm) preyed on polychaetes and vegetal debris, whereas larger fishes fed mainly on crustaceans and fishes. The temporal feeding habits of M. furnieri in this coastal lagoon showed selective and opportune utilization of prey items according to annual variability in reproductive status and water temperature.
Highlights
Ecosystem modelling approach, which takes multispecies relationships into account, requires the knowledge of trophic interactions among constituent organisms (Palomares and Pauly 1999, Bozec et al 2004)
The broad distribution of the whitemouth croaker is a result of its high adaptability, in particular with regard to its feeding habits
Sampling of the whitemouth croaker was carried out between November 1997 and February 1999 in the southern area of the lagoon near the sand bar where hydrodynamic characteristics are more influenced by marine coastal waters and where the species has a higher frequency of occurrence and abundance
Summary
Ecosystem modelling approach, which takes multispecies relationships into account, requires the knowledge of trophic interactions among constituent organisms (Palomares and Pauly 1999, Bozec et al 2004). Such information can be difficult to obtain for individual species that constitute the object of analysis in the system. The aim of this study was to analyze the temporal variation (monthly) in feeding habits of M. furnieri in a shallow coastal lagoon of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, and explore its relationship with both its reproductive cycle and environmental variability
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