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Life history traits of the sand stargazer Dactyloscopus tridigitatus (Teleostei: Blennioidei) from south-eastern Brazilian coast

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2011

Rogério Luiz Teixeira ,
Eduardo Hoffman de Barros ,
Rodrigo Barbosa Ferreira ,
Rafael Magno Costa Melo  and
Luiz Fernando Salvador-Jr
Rogério Luiz Teixeira
Affiliation:
Museu de Biologia Prof. Mello Leitão, Avenida José Ruschi, 4, Centro, 29650-000 Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, Brazil
Eduardo Hoffman de Barros
Affiliation:
Museu de Biologia Prof. Mello Leitão, Avenida José Ruschi, 4, Centro, 29650-000 Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, Brazil
Rodrigo Barbosa Ferreira
Affiliation:
Museu de Biologia Prof. Mello Leitão, Avenida José Ruschi, 4, Centro, 29650-000 Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, Brazil Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology Center, Utah State University, 84322-5230, Logan, Utah, USA
Rafael Magno Costa Melo
Affiliation:
Departamento de Morfologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antônio Carlos, 6627, PO Box 1686, 30161-970, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Luiz Fernando Salvador-Jr*
Affiliation:
Neotropical Research—Grupo de Estudo para a Conservação da Fauna Neotropical, R. Dona Cecília 50/05, Serra, 30220-070 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: L.F. Salvador-Jr, Neotropical Research—Grupo de Estudo para a Conservação da Fauna Neotropical, R. Dona Cecília 50/05, Serra, 30220-070 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Individuals of the sand stargazer Dactyloscopus tridigitatus were collected monthly over a period of one year in an urban-sandy beach in south-eastern Brazil. We sampled 57 males, 64 females, and 6 juveniles, indicating a sex-ratio of approximately 1:1. Total length and weight did not differ significantly between sexes, showing no sexual dimorphism in size. The growth of D. tridigitatus was highly positive allometric and the correlation coefficient was significant for both sexes. Males were observed carrying two egg clumps under each enlarged pectoral fin during most of the year. In contrast, females showed a more restricted reproductive period, concentrated during the austral rainy season. The number of eggs in each clump carried by males did not differ significantly from the number of vitellogenic oocytes of mature females. The number of eggs carried by males was weakly correlated to male total length; however, female fecundity was strongly correlated to female total length. Dactyloscopus tridigitatus consumed a high variety of prey items, including crustaceans, annelids, molluscs, teleosts, insects and eggs. Isopods were the most important component of the diet followed by polychaetes and amphipods. We concluded that promiscuous breeding, paternal care behaviour and invertivorous feeding habits seem to be important traits for the species' success in the studied habitat.

Keywords

marine fishDactyloscopidaepopulation structurereproductionfeeding
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 93 , Special Issue 2: Fish and Fisheries , March 2013 , pp. 397 - 403
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

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