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Food sources of common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) based on stomach content and stable isotopes analyses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2014

A. Tripp-Valdez ,
F. Galván-Magaña  and
S. Ortega-García
A. Tripp-Valdez
Affiliation:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, IPN, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional s/n, Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, La Paz B.C.S. 23096, México
F. Galván-Magaña*
Affiliation:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, IPN, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional s/n, Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, La Paz B.C.S. 23096, México
S. Ortega-García
Affiliation:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, IPN, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional s/n, Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, La Paz B.C.S. 23096, México
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: F. Galván-Magaña, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, IPN, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional s/n, Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, La Paz B.C.S. 23096, México email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Dolphinfish (Mahimahi) are a high-demand resource for sport and coastal fisheries, mainly in the Pacific Ocean. Due to their economic and ecological importance, studies of their biology are very important to understand their function in ecosystems. We used stable isotope and stomach content analyses to determine the most important prey of the common dolphinfish, as well as the trophic level of this species in two areas of the southern Gulf of California. Stomach contents of 445 specimens were analysed. Using both techniques, we found that the most important prey for dolphinfish in the southern Gulf of California were three invertebrate species followed by fish. This contrasts with results from other authors who found that this species was mainly piscivorous in other locations. Stomach content analysis indicated differences in prey biomass by area, season and size class. The isotopic analysis did not show significant differences between seasons or sexes. Both stomach contents and stable isotope analyses showed that although this predator consumed a wide prey spectrum, only a few prey items made up the bulk of the diet, which resulted in a low SD in δ15N values and low Levin's index values. We conclude that this fish is an opportunistic predator that may consume a wide prey spectrum, but that it mainly consumes prey that are abundant in the area, such as crustaceans and cephalopods in the Gulf of California.

Keywords

Trophic ecologystable isotope analysismahi-mahiMexico
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 3 , May 2015 , pp. 579 - 591
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

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