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Cephalopod prey of two demersal sharks caught in the Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2017

Vasiliki Kousteni ,
Paraskevi K. Karachle ,
Persefoni Megalofonou  and
Evgenia Lefkaditou
Vasiliki Kousteni*
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology-Marine Biology, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Ilisia, 15784 Athens, Greece Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, 46.7 km Athens Sounio ave., P.O. Box 712, 19013 Anavyssos Attiki, Greece
Paraskevi K. Karachle
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, 46.7 km Athens Sounio ave., P.O. Box 712, 19013 Anavyssos Attiki, Greece
Persefoni Megalofonou
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology-Marine Biology, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Ilisia, 15784 Athens, Greece
Evgenia Lefkaditou
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, 46.7 km Athens Sounio ave., P.O. Box 712, 19013 Anavyssos Attiki, Greece
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: V. Kousteni Department of Zoology-Marine Biology, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Ilisia, 15784 Athens, Greece email: bkousten@geol.uoa.gr, kousteni@hcmr.gr
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Abstract

This study concerns the cephalopod species that are part of the diet of the small-spotted catshark Scyliorhinus canicula and the longnose spurdog Squalus blainville sampled by commercial trawlers in the Aegean Sea from 2005 to 2012. Based on the examined cephalopod beaks, 15 species were identified belonging in six families of Teuthida, one of Sepiida and two of Octopoda. The diversity of cephalopod prey species was higher for S. canicula (N = 15) than for S. blainville (N = 10). Nektonic cephalopods comprised the majority (>72%) of the preyed species by both sharks, among which about 55% inhabit the demersal zone and 45% the mesopelagic. In the diet of S. canicula, the demersal squid Illex coindetii and the pelagic sepiolid Heteroteuthis dispar were equally represented composing 20% of prey specimens, followed by the small-sized squid Abralia veranyi and the demersal sepiolid Rossia macrosoma. The latter species was substituted in the diet of S. blainville by the demersal medium-sized octopod Scaeurgus unicirrhus, which with the equally represented three other species, composed 50% of the cephalopod prey. Differences observed between S. canicula and S. blainville in the condition of beaks retained in their stomach contents and in the variation of prey species diversity by predator specimen size, may imply differences in their foraging tactics (hunting for prey vs scavenging on the bottom), habitats and stomach evacuation frequency.

Keywords

stomach contentcephalopodsScyliorhinus caniculaSqualus blainvilleMediterranean Sea
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 98 , Special Issue 1: Special Section: European Marine Biology Symposium Papers 2016 , February 2018 , pp. 81 - 88
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2017 

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