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Comparative study of feeding behaviour of five Mugilidae species juveniles from two estuarine systems in the North Aegean Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2016

Ioanna Salvarina ,
Emmanuil Koutrakis  and
Ioannis Leonardos
Ioanna Salvarina*
Affiliation:
NAGREF, Fisheries Research Institute, Nea Peramos, Kavala 64007, Greece Limnological Institute, University of Konstanz, Mainaustrasse 252, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
Emmanuil Koutrakis
Affiliation:
NAGREF, Fisheries Research Institute, Nea Peramos, Kavala 64007, Greece
Ioannis Leonardos
Affiliation:
Biological Applications & Technology Department, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: I. Salvarina Limnological Institute, University of Konstanz, Mainaustr. 252, 78464, Konstanz, Germany email: isalvarina@gmail.com
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Abstract

Food is an important factor for the survival of juvenile fish. Knowledge of the diet of co-existing species helps clarify their relationships with each other. A number of Mugilidae species are known to co-exist in estuarine systems, raising the question of whether they compete for food resources. The feeding behaviours of five juvenile Mugilidae species were studied in the estuaries of Strymonikos (North Aegean Sea) using stomach content analysis. It was found that the species Chelon labrosus, Liza saliens and Mugil cephalus presented high feeding activity during summer and autumn and L. ramada and L. aurata during winter and spring. The diet overlap between the species was generally moderate to low and the pair L. saliens – M. cephalus exhibited the highest overlap in Richios estuarine system. The species do not appear to compete for common resources, probably because there is not always a spatiotemporal overlap, enough food is available or they exploit different resources. Four out of the five species exhibited similar patterns of feeding strategies with varying levels of specialization at an individual level and a rather generalized pattern at the population level. This more generalized feeding strategy may permit them to co-exist. Only M. cephalus showed a more specialized feeding behaviour, with a strong preference for microalgae. The absence of a general pattern for the trophic levels according to seasons, sizes or locations, also imply the opportunistic character of the species. Both season and fish size influenced the variation in the diet composition.

Keywords

mulletsdiet overlapfeeding strategyestuarinestomach content analysistrophic levelseasonal variationsfeeding behavioursizeLiza
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 98 , Issue 2 , March 2018 , pp. 283 - 297
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2016 

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