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Daily ration and feeding activity of juvenile hake in the central Mediterranean Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2008

P. Carpentieri ,
F. Colloca  and
G. Ardizzone
P. Carpentieri*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal and Human Biology, University ‘La Sapienza’, Viale dell'Università 32, 00185 Rome, Italy
F. Colloca
Affiliation:
Department of Animal and Human Biology, University ‘La Sapienza’, Viale dell'Università 32, 00185 Rome, Italy
G. Ardizzone
Affiliation:
Department of Animal and Human Biology, University ‘La Sapienza’, Viale dell'Università 32, 00185 Rome, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: P. Carpentieri, Department of Animal and Human Biology, University ‘La Sapienza’, Viale dell'Università 32, 00185 Rome, Italy email: paolo.carpentieri@uniroma1.it
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Abstract

We investigated daily ration, feeding rhythms and gastric evacuation rates of juvenile (<16 cm total length) European hake Merluccius merluccius, using stomach samples collected during four 24-hour trawl surveys carried out in 2001–2002 on the continental shelf-break (from 120 m to 160 m in depth) off the western coast of central Italy (central Mediterranean Sea). In each survey 8 hauls of 30 minutes were performed every three hours throughout the 24-hour period to cover the entire diel cycle. Diet of juvenile hake was mostly composed of the euphausiid Nyctiphanes couchii, showing a peak in stomach contents during early morning followed by a daytime decrease. Fullness index (%FI) was generally higher during sunrise when migratory activity ceased and juvenile hake return to the bottom after feeding. Concerning the hake abundance the highest density value was obtained in May during the recruitment period.

Two independent daily ration estimates were produced. First, an empirical attempt to estimate the daily amount of food consumed was obtained by back-calculating the fresh weight of euphausiid prey ingested by juvenile hake. Estimated values ranged from 4.96–5.89% body wet weight (%BW). Second, the daily ration was computed applying the exponential gastric evacuation models proposed by Elliot & Persson (1978) and Eggers (1979). Daily ration values obtained using these consumption models produced a considerable (15–20%) underestimation of consumption rate for juvenile hake.

Keywords

food consumptionMerluccius merlucciusfeeding ecologyMediterranean
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Issue 7 , November 2008 , pp. 1493 - 1501
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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