Moon phase influences the diet of southern Ray's bream Brama australis

Abstract

Diet composition of the southern Ray's bream Brama australis was examined from stomach contents of 399 specimens sampled by bottom trawl on Chatham Rise to the east of South Island, New Zealand, over 3 years. Prey items were predominantly mesopelagic fishes and crustaceans. Multivariate analysis indicated that moon phase explained more of the diet variability than any other predictor examined. It appears likely that diet composition is influenced by a combination of changes in both tidal flows and illumination. Different combinations of prey were consumed by B. australis at different times of the lunar cycle. An influence of moon phase on feeding by fishes has rarely been reported, but it is likely that moon phase influences the diets of other species that specialize in mesopelagic prey. The most important prey group by mass for B. australis was Myctophidae (primarily Lampanyctodes hectoris), followed by Stomiiformes (primarily Maurolicus australis) and shrimps (Sergestes spp). An ontogenetic shift in diet was observed, from numerical dominance by small crustaceans including amphipods and euphausiids (with some fishes) in smaller (mass <1045 g) B. australis to pelagic teleost prey (with a few larger crustaceans) in larger (>1440 g) B. australis.

Solar and lunar influences on the spawning activity of Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) in the south‐western North Pacific spawning ground

“…Feeding habit of some oceanic fish species are also known to change with lunar phases (e.g. Bestley, Patterson, Hindell, & Gunn, ; Horn, Forman, & Dunn, ; Shimose, Yokawa, & Tachihara, ). However, spawning activity influenced by lunar phase has rarely been documented in oceanic fishes.…”

Acoustic Assessment of the Micronekton Community on the Chatham Rise, New Zealand, Using a Semi-Automated Approach

“…The dominant non-mesopelagic fish species was Ray's bream, Brama australis and/or B. brama (n = 13) and hoki, M. novaezelandiae (n = 2). Both these species are known to predate heavily on mesopelagic fish (e.g., Connell et al, 2010;Horn et al, 2013).…”

Spatial and bathymetric occurrence of Brama australis off the Chilean Coast and in the South Pacific Ocean

“…According to Pavlov (1991), B. australis is widely distributed in the Pacific Ocean, although rather restricted to the circulation limits of the subtropical waters in the Southern Hemisphere (27°S-48°S). It can also be found off the New Zealand coast (Horn et al 2013).…”