Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:25:04.076Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Diet composition and feeding habits of the pelagic thresher shark Alopias pelagicus in Eastern Central Pacific Ocean, Ecuadorian waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2020

Marcos D. Calle-Morán  and
Felipe Galván-Magaña Open the ORCID record for Felipe Galván-Magaña [Opens in a new window]
Marcos D. Calle-Morán*
Affiliation:
Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México
Felipe Galván-Magaña
Affiliation:
Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR-IPN), Av. IPN s/n, Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, C.P. 23096, La Paz, Baja California Sur, México
*
Author for correspondence: Felipe Galván-Magaña, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The diet and feeding habits of the pelagic thresher shark Alopias pelagicus were analysed based on 104 stomachs (N = 84 females, 20 males) collected off Santa Rosa de Salinas, in the Ecuadorian Pacific. The sharks were caught between February 2008 and January 2009 in artisanal fisheries. The trophic spectrum of A. pelagicus included 19 prey items (10 cephalopods and 9 teleost fishes), the main four prey were the red flying squid Ommastrephes bartramii, jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas, the purpleback flying squid Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis and the South Pacific hake Merluccius gayi. The trophic niche was narrow (Bi = 0.2), thus the pelagic thresher could be considered a specialist predator. The analysis of dietary overlap showed high similarity between the diets of females and males (Cλ = 0.99), immature and mature females (Cλ = 0.81), immature and mature males (Cλ = 0.72), sizes of 141–230 cm TL and 231–321 cm TL (Cλ = 0.97), as well as sharks in rainy season and dry season (Cλ = 0.77). Using canonical of correspondence analysis (CCA), we found similarities in the diet for all categories recorded (sex: canonical r = 0.38, P = 0.97; sexual maturity stage: canonical r = 0.54, P = 0.31; sizes: canonical r = 0.55, P = 0.26; seasons of the year: canonical r = 0.61, P = 0.75). The trophic level estimated for A. pelagicus was 5.0, which is typical of top predators (quaternary consumers or tertiary carnivores).

Keywords

Alopias pelagicusdietary overlapEcuadorpelagic thresher sharktrophic leveltrophic niche width
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 100 , Issue 5 , August 2020 , pp. 837 - 845
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bennet, B (1978) Underwater observations of the squid Illex illecebrosus in the Newfoundland inshore waters. Fisheries and Environment Canada (Report) 833, 12–19.Google Scholar
Bowen, SH (1996) Quantitative description of the diet. In Murphy, BR and Willis, DW (eds), Fisheries Techniques, 2nd Edn.Bethesda, MD: American Fisheries Society, pp. 513–532.Google Scholar
Cabrera, AA (2003) Hábitos alimenticios del tiburón piloto Carcharhinus falciformis (Bibron, 1839) en la costa occidental de Baja California Sur (M.Sc. thesis). CICIMAR-IPN, La Paz, México.Google Scholar
Castro, J (1993) Feeding ecology of chub mackerel Scomber japonicus Houttuyn, in Canary Islands area. South African Journal of Marine Science 13, 323–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chirichigno, N (1980) Clave Para Identificar los Peces Marinos del Perú. Lima: Instituto del Mar del Perú (IMARPE) (Informe), [no. 44] 387 pp.Google Scholar
Clarke, M (1962) The identification of cephalopod beaks and their relationship between beak size and total body weight. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 8, 422–480.Google Scholar
Clarke, M (1986) A Handbook for the Identification of Cephalopod Beaks. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Clothier, C (1950) A key to some southern California fishes based on vertebral characters. California Fish and Game, Fish Bulletin 79, 83 pp.Google Scholar
Clothier, C and Baxter, J (1969) Vertebral Characters of Some Californian Fishes with Notes on Other Eastern Pacific Species. California: The Resources Agency.Google Scholar
Cohen, DM, Inada, T, Iwamoto, T and Scialabba, N (1990) FAO Species Catalogue. Gadiform Fishes of the World (Order Gadiformes). An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Cods, Hakes, Grenadiers and other Gadiform Fishes Known to Date, Vol. 10, no. 125. Rome: FAO, 442 pp.Google Scholar
Colwell, RK (2019) ESTIMATES: Statistical Estimation of Species Richness and Shared Species from Samples. EstimateS V. 9.1. University of Connecticut, USA. http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/estimates/EstimateSPages/EstimateSRegistration.htm (Accessed 15 March 2020).Google Scholar
Compagno, LJV (1984) Species Catalogue: Sharks of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date. Part 1, Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes. Vol. 4. Rome: FAO. pp. 1–25.Google Scholar
Compagno, LJV (2001) Sharks of the World. An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date. Volume 2. Bullhead, Mackerel and Carpet Sharks (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes). Vol. 2, no. 1. FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes. Rome: FAO, pp. 1–269.Google Scholar
Compagno, L, Krupp, F and Schneider, W (1995) Tiburones. In Fischer, W, Krupp, F, Schneider, W, Sommer, C, Carpenter, KE y Niem, VH (eds), Guía FAO para la identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca, Pacífico centro oriental. Parte 1, Vertebrados. Vol. 2. Rome: FAO, pp. 648–661.Google Scholar
Cortés, E (1999) Standardized diet composition and trophic level in sharks. ICES Journal of Marine Sciences 56, 707–717.Google Scholar
Duarte, C and Von Schiller, D (1997) Comunidad de peces demersales del Golfo de Salamanca (Caribe colombiano): estructura espacio-temporal y caracterización trófica con énfasis en los hábitos alimentarios de Lutjanus analis Cuvier, Lutjanis sinagris Linneaus, Balistes capricus Gmelin y Balistes vetula Linneaus (B.Sc. thesis). Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Santa Marta, Colombia.Google Scholar
Ellis, J, Pawson, M and Sharckley, S (1996) The comparative feeding ecology of six species of sharks and four species of rays (Elasmobranchii) in the Northeast Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 76, 89–106.Google Scholar
Estupiñán, C (2016) Ontogenia alimentaria de tres especies de tiburones pelágicos: Alopias pelagicus, Carcharhinus falciformis y Prionace glauca en la reserva marina de Galápagos, Ecuador (M.Sc. thesis). CICIMAR-IPN, La Paz, México.Google Scholar
Fischer, W, Krupp, F, Schneider, W, Sommer, C, Carpenter, K and Niem, V (1995 a) Guía FAO para la identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca, Pacífico centro oriental. Partes 1, Vertebrados. Vol. 2. Rome: FAO, pp. 799–1200.Google Scholar
Fischer, W, Krupp, F, Schneider, W, Sommer, C, Carpenter, K and Niem, V (1995 b) Guía FAO para la identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca, Pacífico centro oriental. Partes 2, Vertebrados. Vol. 3. Rome: FAO, pp. 1201–1662.Google Scholar
Froese, R and Pauly, D (2018) FishBase. Available at https://www.fishbase.org (Accessed 1 October 2018).Google Scholar
García-Godos, I (2001) Patrones morfológicos del otolito sagitta de algunos peces óseos del mar peruano. Boletín vol. 20, no. 1–2, Callao: IMARPE, 83 pp.Google Scholar
Gerking, SD (1994) Feeding Ecology of Fish. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
González-Pestana, A, Acuña-Perales, N, Córdova, F, Coasaca, J, Alfaro, E, Alfaro-Shigueto, J and Mangel, JC (2019) Feeding habits of thresher sharks Alopias sp. in northern Peru: predators of Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 99, 695–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, M (1979) The use of Pielou's method to determine sample size in food studies. In Lipovsky, SJ and Simenstad, CA (eds), Fish Food Habits Studies: Proceedings of the 2nd Pacific Northwest Technical Workshop. Washington Sea Grant Program. Seattle, WA: University of Washington, pp. 56–61.Google Scholar
Horn, HS (1966) Measurement of overlap in comparative ecological studies. American Naturalist 100, 419–424.Google Scholar
Hyslop, E (1980) Stomach contents analysis, a review of methods and their application. Journal of Fishery Biology 17, 411–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingrid, L, Iverson, K and Pinkas, L (1971) A pictorial guide to beaks of certain Eastern Pacific cephalopods. Fishery Bulletin 152, 7–35.Google Scholar
Kling, G, Fry, B and O'Brien, W (1992) Stable isotopes and planktonic trophic structure in arctic lakes. Ecology 73, 561–566.Google Scholar
Krebs, CJ (1985) Ecología: estudio de la distribución y la abundancia, 2° edición.México: Editorial Harla.Google Scholar
Jiménez, P and Béarez, P (2004) Peces Marinos del Ecuador Continental/Marine Fishes of Continental Ecuador. Tomo 2. Quito: SIMBIOE/NAZCA/IFEA, 400 pp.Google Scholar
Jimenez-Valverde, A and Hortal, J (2003) Las curvas de acumulacion de especies y la necesidad de evaluar la calidad de los inventarios biologicos. Revista Iberoamericana de Aracnologia 8, 151–161.Google Scholar
Labropoulou, M and Eleftheriou, A (1997) The foraging ecology of two pairs of congeneric demersal fish species: importance of morphological characteristics in prey selection. Journal of Fish Biology 50, 324–340.Google Scholar
Langton, RW (1982) Diet overlap between Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, silver hake, Merluccius bilinearis, and fifteen other northwest Atlantic finfish. Fishery Bulletin 80, 745–759.Google Scholar
Markaida, U and Sosa, O (2003) Food and feeding habits of jumbo squid, Dosidicus gigas (Cephalopoda: Ommastrephidae) from the Gulf of California, Mexico. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 83, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martínez-Ortiz, J and García-Domínguez, M (2013) Guía de campo de condrictios del Ecuador: quimeras, tiburones y rayas/Chondrichtyes of Ecuador field guide, chimaeras, sharks and rays. Manta: Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería, Acuicultura y Pesca.Google Scholar
Mier, L (2011) Catálogo de otolitos de peces capturados en el Parque nacional sistema arrecifal veracruzano (B.Sc. thesis). Instituto Tecnológico de Boca del Río, Veracruz, México.Google Scholar
Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería, Acuicultura y Pesca (2012) Peces pelágicos grandes y tiburones. Manta, Ecuador. Available at http://tiburon.acuaculturaypesca.gob.ec/ (Accessed 1 July 2018).Google Scholar
Morisita, M. (1959) Measuring Interspecific Association and Similarity between Communities. Kyushu, Japan: Kyushu University, 65 pp. [Memoires of Faculty Science, Ser. Ed. (Biology)].Google Scholar
Muñoz, H (2012) Características de los otolitos sagitales de peces pelágicos pequeños de interés comercial en las costas de Santa Elena, Pacífico ecuatoriano, julio de 2011-enero de 2012 (B.Sc. thesis). Universidad Península de Santa Elena, La Libertad, Ecuador.Google Scholar
Nesis, K (1970) The biology of the giant squid of Peru and Chile, Dosidicus gigas. Oceanology 10, 108–118.Google Scholar
Olson, J and Galván-Magaña, F (2002) Food habits and consumption rates of dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Fishery Bulletin 100, 279–298.Google Scholar
Páez-Rosas, D, Insuasti-Zárate, P, Riofrío-Lazo, M and Galván-Magaña, F (2018) Feeding behavior and trophic interaction of three shark species in the Galapagos Marine Reserve. PeerJ 6, e4818.Google ScholarPubMed
Peláez, M (1997) Hábitos alimenticios de la cabrilla sardinera Mycteroperca rosacea Streets, (Pisces: Serranidae) en la Bahía de La Paz, BCS, y las zonas adyacentes (B.Sc. thesis). Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, La Paz, México.Google Scholar
Pinkas, L, Oliphant, MS and Iverson, ILK (1971) Food habits of albacore, bluefin tuna and bonito in California waters. California Fish and Game, Fish Bulletin 152, 105 pp.Google Scholar
Polo-Silva, C, Rendón, L and Galván-Magaña, F (2009) Descripción de la dieta de los tiburones zorro (Alopias pelagicus) y (Alopias superciliosus) durante la época lluviosa en aguas ecuatorianas. Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences 4, 556–571.Google Scholar
Polo-Silva, C, Newsome, SD, Galván-Magaña, F, Grijalba-Bendeck, M and Sanjuan-Muñoz, A (2013) Trophic shift in the diet of the pelagic thresher shark based on stomach contents and stable isotope analyses. Marine Biology Research 9, 958–971.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reardon, M, Márquez, F, Trejo, T and Clarke, SC (2009) Alopias pelagicus. In The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/161597/5460720/ (Accessed 5 November 2018).Google Scholar
Roper, CFE, Sweeney, MJ and Hochberg, FG (1995) Cefalópodos. In Fischer, W, Krupp, F, Schneider, W, Sommer, C, Carpenter, KE and Niem, VH (eds), Guía FAO para la Identificación de Especies para los Fines de la Pesca. Pacífico Centro Oriental. Plantas e invertebrados. Vol. 1. Rome: FAO, pp. 305–354.Google Scholar
Rosas-Luis, R, Navarro, J, Loor-Andrade, P and Forero, MN (2017) Feeding ecology and trophic relationships of pelagic sharks and billfishes coexisting in the central eastern Pacific Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 573, 191–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, P and Zaret, M (1982) Bias in estimating niche overlap. Ecology 63, 1248–1253.Google Scholar
StatSoft (2008) Estatistica V. 8.0. Available at https://statistica.programas-gratis.net/gracias (Accessed 15 March 2020).Google Scholar
Stillwell, C and Kohler, N (1982) Food, feeding habits, and estimates of daily ration of the shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) in the Northwest Atlantic. Canadian Journal of Fishery Aquatic Sciences 39, 407–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trejo, T (2005) Global Phylogeography of Thresher Sharks (Alopias spp.) Inferred from Mitochondrial DNA Control Region Sequences (M.Sc. thesis). California State University, Monterey Bay, USA.Google Scholar
Tytler, P and Calow, P (1985) Fish Energetics: New Perspectives. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Vinueza, E (2015) Catálogo de otolitos sagitta de especies comerciales en los cantones de Sucre y San Vicente, Manabí, Pacífico ecuatoriano (B.Sc. thesis). Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Bahía de Caáquez, Ecuador.Google Scholar
Wolff, G (1982) A beak key for eight eastern tropical Pacific cephalopods species, with relationship between their beak dimension and size. Fishery Bulletin 80, 357–370.Google Scholar
Wolff, G (1984) Identification and Estimation of Size from Beaks of Eighteen Species of Cephalopods from the Pacific Ocean. NOAA Technical Report NMFS, USA, no. 17, 50 pp.Google Scholar