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Feeding behaviour of greater amberjack Seriola dumerili (Risso, 1810) from Central Mediterranean (Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2016

Ayda Sley ,
Aymen Hadj Taieb ,
Othman Jarboui ,
Mohamed Ghorbel  and
Abderrahmen Bouain
Ayda Sley*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Marine Science and Technologies of Tunisia, Box 1035, Sfax 3018, Tunisia
Aymen Hadj Taieb
Affiliation:
National Institute of Marine Science and Technologies of Tunisia, Box 1035, Sfax 3018, Tunisia
Othman Jarboui
Affiliation:
National Institute of Marine Science and Technologies of Tunisia, Box 1035, Sfax 3018, Tunisia
Mohamed Ghorbel
Affiliation:
National Institute of Marine Science and Technologies of Tunisia, Box 1035, Sfax 3018, Tunisia
Abderrahmen Bouain
Affiliation:
University of Sfax, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, Tunisia, Box 1171, Sfax 3000, Tunisia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to:A. Sley, National Institute of Marine Science and Technologies of Tunisia, Box 1035, Sfax, 3018, Tunisia email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The diet of greater amberjack Seriola dumerili (Carangidae) in the Gulf of Gabes (Tunisia, Mediterranean) was described from analysis of stomach contents of 290 specimens fished between June 2004 and May 2006. The index of vacuity (%VI) was relatively low (37.9%) and differed significantly across size classes. Seriola dumerili is an opportunistic predator that consumes mostly pelagic organisms; benthic prey were also examined in small proportion. The diet was quantified using the frequency of occurrence (%O), numerical abundance (%N), weight (%W) and the index of relative importance (IRI and %IRI) for each prey taxa. The most important prey were teleosts (%IRI = 99.61); molluscs and crustaceans were found occasionally (%IRI, 0.38 and 0.01%, respectively). Among teleosts, Clupeidae were also the dominant food items in number (%N = 36.06%) and then in frequency of occurrence (%O = 36.7%). In term of weight, Sparidae were the most abundant prey (%W = 36.5%). There is no significant difference between male and female diets. Seasonal differences in the diet components were observed.

Keywords

Feeding behaviourSeriola dumeriliCentral MediterraneanGulf of GabesTunisia
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 96 , Issue 6 , September 2016 , pp. 1229 - 1234
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2016 

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