Foraging behaviour of tuna feeding on small schooling Vinciguerria nimbaria in the surface layer of the equatorial Atlantic Ocean

Ménard, Frédéric; Marchal, Émile

doi:10.1016/s0990-7440(03)00040-8

Cited by 26 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…In both cases, these concentrations of schooling prey were dominant in the surface layers prospected by tunas. Our results and these studies show that surface fish predators tend to feed on large concentrations of monospecific prey when they are available (Bard et al 2002;Ménard and Marchal 2003;Potier et al 2007c). The subsurface predators did not exhibit the same feeding behaviour.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…In the eastern Atlantic, Bard et al (2002) showed that large schooling yellowfin tunas caught by purse seiners at sea surface were feeding on monospecific concentrations of bigeye cigarfish juveniles belonging to the same length class. In the same way, Ménard and Marchal (2003) investigated the foraging behaviour of surface tunas feeding on small schooling Vinciguerria nimbaria in the surface layers of the equatorial Atlantic, and Potier et al (2007c) highlighted the role of the stomatopod Natosquilla investigatoris in the diet of tunas caught during the South-West monsoon in the Seychelles waters. In both cases, these concentrations of schooling prey were dominant in the surface layers prospected by tunas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial distribution ofCubiceps pauciradiatus(Perciformes: Nomeidae) in the tropical Indian Ocean and its importance in the diet of large pelagic fishes

Potier

Romanov

Cherel

et al. 2008

Aquat. Living Resour.

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The bigeye cigarfish (Cubiceps pauciradiatus) is a small pelagic nomeid of the tropical world ocean, often recovered in the stomach contents of top predators such as tunas, billfishes and marine mammals. In the Indian Ocean, a few studies have investigated the biology and the ecology of this species that is one of the most abundant fish of the intermediate trophic levels. In this paper, we investigated the spatial distribution of C. pauciradiatus in the Indian Ocean using pelagic trawl catches carried out between 20˚N and 45˚S, and the importance of bigeye cigarfish in the diet of 9 piscivorous fishes sampled by different fishing gears in the western part of the Indian Ocean. The highest densities were observed along the eastern coast of Africa and in the Arabian Sea (87 000 individuals per square nautical mile) during the SouthWest Monsoon and in the eastern part of the Seychelles archipelago (62 200 ind. square nmi) during the NorthEast Monsoon. Small sized bigeye cigarfish (20-80 mm SL) was a regular and abundant prey (20 to 200 ind. per stomach) for schooling predators exploited by purse seine fishery such as large yellowfin and bigeye tunas chasing prey near the sea surface. Large sized bigeye cigarfish (61-150 mm SL) occurred in small numbers (3 to 20 ind. per stomach) in the stomach contents of swordfish and of large yellowfin and bigeye tunas caught by longline sets at great depths. Large concentrations of bigeye cigarfish occurred in zones of high productivity, and that species constituted seasonally a strong link in the transfer of energy from low to high trophic levels in this part of the Indian Ocean.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial distribution ofCubiceps pauciradiatus(Perciformes: Nomeidae) in the tropical Indian Ocean and its importance in the diet of large pelagic fishes

Potier

Romanov

Cherel

et al. 2008

Aquat. Living Resour.

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“…Piscivorous predators hunt individual prey but commonly seek out micronekton aggregations, such as shoals and clusters of shoals, in the water column (LebourgesDhaussy et al 2000, Bertrand et al 2002. Therefore, schooling behaviour of prey organisms plays a major role in the feeding success of marine fish predators that roam the open sea, often in shoals (Ménard & Marchal 2003 and eddy-eddy interactions likely enhance biological production in otherwise poor waters, sustaining stocks of potential prey for micronektonic species through bottom-up processes. The micronekton, in turn, can be sought out by upper trophic level predators such as tuna and tuna-like species (Seki et al 2002, Domokos et al 2007), turtles (Polovina et al 2004, Lambardi et al 2008 or seabirds (Nel et al 2001, Weimerskirch et al 2004, Hyrenbach et al 2006.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mesoscale eddies influence distribution and aggregation patterns of micronekton in the Mozambique Channel

Sabarros¹,

Ménard²,

Levenez³

et al. 2009

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Oceanic mesoscale circulation is a crucial structuring force in the marine environment. Dynamic processes associated with eddies, such as eddy-induced upwelling or eddy-eddy interaction, drive the transport and distribution of nutrients that support the whole food chain, presumably through bottom-up processes. Eddies can shape the distribution of organisms at both low (phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish larvae) and high trophic levels (top fish predators, seabirds or turtles), but the impact of mesoscale features on intermediate trophic levels (micronekton) remains poorly understood. We analysed the influence of eddies on the distribution of micronekton aggregations in the Mozambique Channel by combining data from acoustic surveys and satellite sea topography. We demonstrated that large aggregations of micronekton occurred mainly in areas where the local horizontal gradient of sea level anomalies is strong, i.e. at the periphery of eddies. We observed that, in this region, eddies running along the coast advect coastal nutrient-rich waters at their edges, which support the base of the food chain. We propose that eddies can shape the distribution and the aggregation patterns of the prey of marine top predators through bottom-up processes.

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“…For example, Bard et al (2002) showed that large yellowfin tuna caught by purse seiners in the equatorial Atlantic fed on monospecific concentrations of juvenile Cubiceps pauciradiatus belonging to the same size class. Ménard & Marchal (2003) studied the foraging behaviour of tunas feeding on small schooling Vinciguerria nimbaria in the surface layer of the equatorial Atlantic. In both cases, concentrations of the schooling prey were dominant in the surface layer where tunas may seek their prey.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunistic predation in tuna: a size-based approach

Ménard¹,

Labrune²,

Shin³

et al. 2006

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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To test whether predation is an opportunistic size-based process within a tuna community, analyses were carried out on the size composition of stomach contents of bigeye tuna Thunnus obesus (Lowe, 1839) and yellowfin tuna T. albacares (Bonnaterre, 1788) caught in 1995 to 1997 during longline scientific surveys in the French Polynesian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Prey size distributions were compared with the size distribution of organisms collected by pelagic trawls carried out during the same programme. Relationships between prey size and predator size were studied using quantile regressions, and were related to tuna mouth-gape measurements. The results showed that mean and maximum sizes of prey increased with increasing predator size, and that maximum prey sizes (versus tuna size) were below those predicted by tuna mouth-gape size. Minimum prey size varied little with tuna size, and the size distributions of prey in tuna stomachs were very asymmetrical (lognormal type), confirming that during growth, tunas continue to feed on small prey. Comparison with previous studies on other piscivorous species from different ecosystems underlined that tunas feed on very small prey in relation to their own size. However, comparison of size distributions of prey in stomach contents and prey in pelagic trawls revealed that bigeye tuna select larger prey than yellowfin tuna when such prey are available.

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Foraging behaviour of tuna feeding on small schooling Vinciguerria nimbaria in the surface layer of the equatorial Atlantic Ocean

Cited by 26 publications

References 17 publications

Spatial distribution ofCubiceps pauciradiatus(Perciformes: Nomeidae) in the tropical Indian Ocean and its importance in the diet of large pelagic fishes

Spatial distribution ofCubiceps pauciradiatus(Perciformes: Nomeidae) in the tropical Indian Ocean and its importance in the diet of large pelagic fishes

Mesoscale eddies influence distribution and aggregation patterns of micronekton in the Mozambique Channel

Opportunistic predation in tuna: a size-based approach

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