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Feeding ecology of Symbolophorus californiensis larvae (Teleostei: Myctophidae) in the southern transition region of the western North Pacific

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Chiyuki Sassa
Chiyuki Sassa*
Affiliation:
Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, 1551-8 Taira-machi, Nagasaki 851-2213, Japan
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: C. Sassa, Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, 1551-8 Taira-machi, Nagasaki 851-2213, Japan email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The feeding habits of myctophid larvae of Symbolophorus californiensis were examined in the southern transition region of the western North Pacific where the main spawning and nursery grounds of S. californiensis are formed. This species is a key component of the pelagic ecosystems of this region, and their larvae attain one of the largest sizes among myctophids. To analyse gut contents larvae, including most life history stages after yolk-sac absorption (3.7 to 22.2 mm body length (BL)), were collected in the upper 100 m layer in 1997 and 1998. Feeding incidence was higher during the day than at night (53.1–92.3% versus 0–5.6%), and daytime feeding incidence increased gradually with larval growth. Larvae fed mainly on copepods of various developmental stages. Larvae of S. californiensis showed an ontogenetic change in their diet: larvae ≤7.9 mm BL (i.e. preflexion stage) fed mainly on copepod eggs and nauplii, while the larvae ≥8 mm BL consumed mainly calanoid copepodites such as Pseudocalanus and Paracalanus spp. In the largest size-class (16–22.2 mm BL), the furcilia stage of euphausiids was also an important prey item. There was an increase in the average prey size with growth in larvae ≤11.9 mm BL, while the number of prey eaten positively correlated with growth in larvae ≥12 mm BL. The trophic niche breadth also increased with larval growth, which would ensure a wide range of available food resources for the larger size-class larvae.

Keywords

ichthyoplanktonMyctophidaemyctophid fish larvaelarval feeding habitsdiet compositiontrophic ontogenySymbolophorus californiensissouthern transition region
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Special Issue 6: In Honour of Sir Frederick Stratten Russell, FRS , September 2010 , pp. 1249 - 1256
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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