Feeding biology of the flatfish Citharichthys spilopterus (Bothidae) in a tropical estuary of Mexico

Abstract

The flatfish Citharichthys spilopterus Günther 1862 is the most common bothid in the coastal lagoons of the Gulf of Mexico. The objective of the present study was to describe the trophic biology of this species in the tropical coastal lagoon of Tampamachoco, Mexico. For the diet analysis, we used multivariate discriminant analysis and trophic niche breadth. The morphological analysis showed that the features of the bucco‐pharyngeal cavity, the large stomach and the short intestine of this flatfish relate to a carnivorous habit. The overall diet showed that this species is a third‐order consumer, feeding mainly on fish (52%, mainly gobies) and crustaceans (36%, mostly decapods). Diet and trophic niche breadth showed no significant differences between sexes (P > 0.1). By contrast, there were significant ontogenetic differences in the diet and trophic niche breadth, where larger C. spilopterus were almost entirely piscivorous and showed the narrowest trophic niche. As the flatfish grew in size there was a trend toward the consumption of larger prey. The importance of copepods and peracarids correlated inversely with flatfish size (P < 0.001), but fish prey correlated directly to flatfish size (P < 0.001). Likewise, there was an inverse significant correlation between niche trophic breadth and flatfish size (P < 0.005). There were also significant seasonal differences in the diet (P < 0.02), related to the availability and vulnerability of prey in the lagoon during the dry and rainy seasons. However, the trophic niche showed no significant differences between seasons. Finally, we discuss the advantages of discriminant analysis applied to evaluate differences among diets of fish groups when compared with other bivariate and multivariate techniques.

Comparative anatomy of the digestive system of the flounder, Syacium papillosum and Syacium gunteri (Pleuronectiformes: Paralichthyidae)

“…De acuerdo con Mok (1980) los Pleuronectiformes tienen un tipo de enrollamiento intestinal consistente en un asa intestinal dirigida hacia delante y otra hacia atrás, sin embargo, en S. papillosum y S. gunteri así como también en C. spilopterus (Castillo-Rivera et al 2000), C. chittendeni (Kobelkowsky 2007), B. robinsi y P. lethostigma, el último tramo intestinal se orienta hacia delante y se dobla formando el intestino posterior.…”

“…Aunque los lenguados son peces de importancia ecológica o comercial por ser componentes de las comunidades demersales, los estudios integrales sobre su biología trófica son escasos. Entre los lenguados del Golfo de México, la anatomía general del sistema digestivo es descrita en Citharichthys spilopterus por Castillo-Rivera et al (2000), la de Symphurus civitatium, S. plagiusa y S. urospilus por Kobelkowsky (2000b), la de Cyclopsetta chittendeni por Kobelkowsky (2007). La única publicación sobre alimentación de especies de Syacium es la de García-Abad et al (1992), la cual registra la dieta de S. gunteri en áreas del Golfo de México.…”

Feeding ecology of three tonguefishes, genus Cynoglossus (Cynoglossidae) in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan

“…De Groot (1971), Ramanathan et al (1980) and Ochiai (1966) also observed the importance of these preys in the diets of other Cynoglossus species. In addition, crustaceans occasionally contributed importantly to the diets of younger stages of demersal piscivore species (Castillo-Rivera et al 2000;Treloar et al 2007;Š antić et al 2009). Crustaceans are one of the most successful animals, and are abundant in the oceans.…”

Reproductive strategies of the marine fishes from the southwest Atlantic Ocean: an application of histological and image processing techniques

“…This area is located in the northern coast of the São Paulo state, and it is strongly influenced by three water masses: Tropical Waters (TW) with high temperature and salinity (T > 20 °C and S > 36); the South Atlantic Central Water (SACW) with low temperature and salinity (T < 20 °C and S < 36), and the Coastal Water (CW) with high temperature and low salinity (T > 20 °C and S < 36) (CASTRO-FILHO;MIRANDA, 1998). However, the seasonal presence of the SACW during the summer and spring months is the main factor influencing the environmental conditions in this area (PIRES-VANIN;MATSUURA, 1993).…”

“…On the other hand, during the autumn and winter, the SACW Oocyte production and recruitment pattern of two congeneric species | 164 retreats toward the margin of the continental shelf and is replaced by the CW (CASTRO-FILHO;MIRANDA, 1998). Thus, these water masses affect the nourishment condition and the reproduction of species inhabiting in this ecosystem (MATSUURA, 1990;MATSUURA et al, 1992;KATSURAGAWA et al, 1993;MYASHITA et al, 2011) …”