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Trophic partitioning between abundant demersal sharks coexisting in the North Aegean Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2019

Emre Yemisken ,
Joan Navarro ,
Manuela Forero ,
Persefoni Megalofonou  and
Lutfiye Eryilmaz
Emre Yemisken*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Section of Hydrobiology, Faculty of Science, Istanbul University, Turkey
Joan Navarro
Affiliation:
Institut de Ciencies del Mar – CSIC, Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta, 37-49 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Manuela Forero
Affiliation:
Department of Conservation Biology, Estacion Biologica de Donana (EBD-CSIC), Avda. Americo Vespucio s/n, Sevilla 41092, Spain
Persefoni Megalofonou
Affiliation:
Department of Conservation Biology, Estacion Biologica de Donana (EBD-CSIC), Avda. Americo Vespucio s/n, Sevilla 41092, Spain
Lutfiye Eryilmaz
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Section of Hydrobiology, Faculty of Science, Istanbul University, Turkey Department of Biology, Section of Zoology Marine Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
*
Author for correspondence: Emre Yemisken, E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

We examined the feeding ecology (diet, trophic width and trophic position) of five demersal shark species (Mustelus mustelus Linnaeus, 1758, Galeus melastomus Rafinesque, 1810, Scyliorhinus canicula Linnaeus, 1758, Scyliorhinus stellaris Linnaeus, 1758, Squalus blainville, Risso, 1826) coexisting in the north-eastern Aegean Sea (around Gökçeda Island) by combining stomach content and stable isotope analyses. The results indicate clear differences in diet between the five sharks. Cephalopods were mainly found in diet of S. stellaris and M. mustelus and the stomachs of G. melastomus, S. canicula and S. blainville included fish. S. blainville showed the highest trophic position in respect of stable isotope analysis (TPsia = 4.89) around Gökçeada Island. It was followed by G. melastomus (TPsia = 4.57). Direct isotopic values (both stable nitrogen and carbon) and isotopic niche width based on the Standard Ellipse Area (SEA) clearly differed among the five shark species. In particular, S. blainville was isotopically segregated from the other shark species studied, showing a narrow isotopic trophic niche and higher trophic level. In contrast, M. mustelus had the widest trophic niche of the five species studied. The niche width of S. stellaris was narrower than M. mustelus and S. canicula but wider than S. blainville and G. melastomus. SEA showed that G. melastomus has a specialized feeding strategy in the area. There is no overlap between S. canicula and S. stellaris in trophic width.

Keywords

Aegean Seademersal sharksfeeding ecologyGokceada Islandstable isotopestrophic position
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 99 , Issue 5 , August 2019 , pp. 1213 - 1219
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2019 

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