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ENSO effect on trophic interactions of three top predators in adjacent waters to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2024

Amairani Hernández-Aparicio ,
Sofía Ortega-García Open the ORCID record for Sofía Ortega-García [Opens in a new window] ,
Arturo Tripp-Valdez ,
Ulianov Jakes-Cota ,
Rodrigo Moncayo-Estrada  and
Sergio A. Hernández-Briones
Amairani Hernández-Aparicio
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
Sofía Ortega-García*
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
Arturo Tripp-Valdez
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
Ulianov Jakes-Cota
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
Rodrigo Moncayo-Estrada
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
Sergio A. Hernández-Briones
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
*
Corresponding author: Sofía Ortega-García; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Trophic competition among top predators is also influenced by environmental variability. However, the magnitude of the changes in contrasting events such as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is poorly studied. The stomach contents of striped marlin (Kajikia audax), blue marlin (Makaira nigricans), and dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) were analysed. We included the ENSO effect on the diet because we analysed organisms captured during 2010–2011 and 2014–2015, periods that, according to the Ocean Niño Index, were defined as the cold phase (CP) and warm phase (WP), respectively. Trophic diversity, feeding habits and strategy, trophic position (TP), trophic niche amplitude, and diet overlap were calculated. It was found that, despite a wide trophic spectrum, all three species were specialist predators in both phases. The most important prey species during both phases for striped marlin was Dosidicus gigas, while Auxis spp. was the most important prey of blue marlin. Dolphinfish fed mainly on Oxyporhamphus micropterus during the CP and Pleuroncodes planipes during the WP. Our results indicated that during both ENSO phases, all species maintained a trophic position similar to previous reports for the study area. However, for striped marlin, these differences were significant. Greater trophic competition was found during the CP (seven prey taxa shared) than in the WP (three prey taxa shared). These species often share the same environment, but their preference for feeding on different prey makes them occupy different trophic spaces, an aspect that allows their coexistence in time and space.

Keywords

El Niño Southern Oscillationfeeding habitsPSIRItrophic overlap
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 104 , 2024 , e78
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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