Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T21:24:31.616Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trophic spectrum of the sailfish Istiophorus platypterus caught off Acapulco in the southern Mexican Pacific

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2012

Sandra Berenice Hernández-Aguilar ,
Leonardo Andrés Abitia-Cárdenas ,
Xchel Gabriel Moreno-Sánchez ,
Marcial Arellano-Martínez  and
Eduardo González-Rodríguez
Sandra Berenice Hernández-Aguilar
Affiliation:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Avenida Instituto Politécnico Nacional s/n, Apartado Postal 592, La Paz, Baja California Sur, México, C.P. 23096
Leonardo Andrés Abitia-Cárdenas*
Affiliation:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Avenida Instituto Politécnico Nacional s/n, Apartado Postal 592, La Paz, Baja California Sur, México, C.P. 23096
Xchel Gabriel Moreno-Sánchez
Affiliation:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Avenida Instituto Politécnico Nacional s/n, Apartado Postal 592, La Paz, Baja California Sur, México, C.P. 23096
Marcial Arellano-Martínez
Affiliation:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Avenida Instituto Politécnico Nacional s/n, Apartado Postal 592, La Paz, Baja California Sur, México, C.P. 23096
Eduardo González-Rodríguez
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Unidad La Paz, Miraflores N0. 334 e/ Mulege y La Paz, La Paz Baja California Sur, México, C.P. 23050
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: L.A. Abitia-Cárdenas, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Avenida Instituto Politécnico Nacional s/n, Apartado Postal 592, La Paz, Baja California Sur, México, C.P. 23096 email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The sailfish Istiophorus platypterus is one of the most common billfish species in the Mexican Pacific. Information about its feeding habits in the coastal region of Acapulco, Guerrero is extremely limited. In the present study we quantified the diet of sailfish, based on captures made from March 2008 to December 2009 by the sport fishing fleet of Acapulco. We analysed a total of 561 stomachs, of which 254 contained food (45%). The size interval of examined specimens was between 101 and 212 cm postorbital length and between 15 and 47 kg total weight. In general, teleosts were the most important prey, followed by cephalopods. According to index of relative importance, the most important species in the diet were the fish Auxis thazard (63.04%) and Fistularia commersonii (6.62%), followed by the cephalopod Octopus spp. (4.58%). There were no significant differences in the diet by sex (males and females), sexual maturity (immature and mature), or by season (warm and cold seasons). In all cases the most important prey species was A. thazard. We conclude that the sailfish I. platypterus off Acapulco behaves as a specialist predator because, despite the consumption of a high number of prey items, it feeds preferentially on a reduced number of prey species that form schools, and are available and abundant in the ocean.

Keywords

Istiophorus platypterustrophic spectrumsport fishingMexican Pacific
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 93 , Issue 4 , June 2013 , pp. 1097 - 1104
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2012 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abitia, C.L.A., Galvan, M.F. and Muhlia, M.A. (1998) Trophic spectrum of striped marlin Tetrapturus audax (Philippi, 1887) off the coast of cape San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Revista de Biología Marina y Oceanografía 33, 277–290.Google Scholar
Abitia, C.L.A., Muhlia, M.A., Cruz, E.V.H. and Galvan, M.F. (2002) Trophic dynamics and seasonal energetics of striped marlin Tetrapturus audax in the southern Gulf of California, Mexico. Fisheries Research 57, 287–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, G.R. and Robertson, D.R. (1994) Fishes of the tropical eastern Pacific. 1st edition. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Amundsen, P.A., Gabler, H.M. and Staldvik, F.J. (1996) A new approach to graphical analysis of feeding strategy from stomach contents data- modification of the Costello (1990) method. Journal of Fish Biology 48, 607–614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arias, O.F. (2007) Distribución espacio-temporal de la CPUEe del pez vela (Istiophorus platypterus) en el Pacífico mexicano. Master's thesis. Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, La Paz, Baja California Sur, México.Google Scholar
Arizmendi, R.D.I., Abitia, C.L.A., Galvan, M.F. and Trejo, E.I. (2006) Food habits of sailfish Istiophorus platypterus off Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science 79, 777–791.Google Scholar
Blaber, J.M. (1997) Fish and fisheries of tropical estuaries. 1st edition. London: Chapman & Hall.Google Scholar
Cerdenares, L.G. (2011) Biología del pez vela Istiophorus platypterus (Shaw y Nooder, 1792) en el Golfo de Tehuantepec. PhD thesis. Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico.Google Scholar
Clarke, M.R. (1986) A handbook for the identification of cephalopod beaks. 1st edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Clarke, K.R. and Warwick, R.M. (2001) Changes in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. 2nd edition. Plymouth: PRIMER-E.Google Scholar
Clothier, C.R. (1950) A key to some southern California fishes based on vertebral characters. California Department of Fish and Game, Fish Bulletin 79, 1–83.Google Scholar
Cortes, E. (1997) A critical review of methods of studying fish feeding based on analysis of stomach contents: application to elasmobranch fishes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 54, 726–738.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eldridge, M.B. and Wares, P.G. (1974) Some biological observations of billfishes taken in the eastern Pacific Ocean. In Shomura, R.S. and Williams, F. (eds) Species synopsis: Proceedings of the International Billfish Symposium Kailua-Kona Hawaii, August 9–12, 1972. United States, Department Commerce, NOAA Technical Report, NMFS-SSRF-675, pp. 89–101.Google Scholar
Evans, D.H and Wares, P.G. (1972) Food habits of the striped marlin and sailfish off Mexico and southern California. United States Fish and Wildlife Service Research Reports, 10 pp.Google Scholar
Fischer, W., Krupp, F., Schneider, W., Sommer, C., Carpenter, K. and Niem, V.H. (1995) Guía FAO para la identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Volumen II Vertebrados, Parte 1. FAO Regional Guides, Western-Central Pacific, pp. 647–1200.Google Scholar
Galvan, M.F. (1999) Interspecific trophic relationships of the epipelagic predators community of the eastern Pacific Ocean. PhD thesis. Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior, Ensenada, Baja California Norte, México.Google Scholar
Gerking, S.D. (1994) Feeding ecology of fish. 1st edition. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Graham, J.H. and Vrijenhoek, R.C. (1988) Detrended correspondence analysis of dietary data. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 117, 29–36.Google Scholar
Hajisamae, S., Chou, L.M. and Ibrahim, S. (2003) Feeding habits and trophic organization of the fish community in shallow waters of an impacted tropical habitat. Estuaries, Coastal and Shelf Science 58, 89–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurlbert, S.H. (1978) The measurement of niche overlap and some relatives. Ecology 59, 67–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyslop, E.J. (1980) Stomach contents analysis: a review of methods and their application. Journal of Fish Biology 17, 411–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jimenez, A. and Hortal, J. (2003) Las curvas de acumulación de especies y la necesidad de evaluar la calidad de los inventarios biológicos. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 8, 151–161.Google Scholar
Jolley, J. (1977) The biology and fishery of Atlantic sailfish Istiophorus platypterus, from southeast Florida. Florida Marine Research Publications 28, 1–31.Google Scholar
Liao, C.H., Pierce, C.L. and Larscheid, J.G. (2001) Empirical assessment of indices of prey importance in the diets of predacious fish. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 130, 583–591.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, D.J. and Jorgensen, S.C. (1973) Meristic characters of some marine fishes of the western Atlantic Ocean. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Fish Bulletin 7, 301–312.Google Scholar
Monod, T. (1968) Le complexe urophore des poisons téléostéens. Mémories de l'Institute Fundamental d'Afrique Noire 81, 1–705.Google Scholar
Nakamura, I. (1985) FAO species catalogue. Volume 5. Billfishes of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of marlins, sailfish, spearfish and swordfish known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis, 60 pp.Google Scholar
Pimenta, E.G., Lima, G., Cordeiro, C.J., Tardelli, M. and de Amorim, A.F. (2005) Reproduction and stomach content analysis of sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus, off Río de Janeiro state, RJ, Brazil. Colllective Volume of Scientifics Papers, ICCAT 58, 1589–1596.Google Scholar
Pinkas, L., Oliphant, M.S. and Iverson, L.K. (1971) Food habits of albacore, bluefin tuna, and bonito in California waters. Fish Bulletin 152, 1–105.Google Scholar
Robertson, K.M. and Chivers, S.J. (1997) Prey occurrence in pantropical spotted dolphin Stenella attenuata, from the eastern tropical Pacific. Fishery Bulletin 95, 334–348Google Scholar
Rodriguez, R.J., Moreno, S.X.G., Abitia, C.L.A. and Palacios, S.D.S. (2009) General characteristics of diet of the raucous grunt, Haemulopsis leuciscus (Perciformes: Haemulidae), in Bahía Almejas, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Marine Biodiversity Records e141. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1755267209990595CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosas, A.J., Hernandez, H.A., Galvan, M.F., Abitia, C.L.A. and Muhlia, M.A.F. (2002) Diet composition of sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) from the southern Gulf of California, Mexico. Fisheries Research 57, 185–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, D.A., Findley, L.T. and Kerstitch, A.N. (2000) Reef fishes of the Sea of Cortez: the rocky-shore fishes of the Gulf of California. 1st edition. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Valente, C.N. (1992) A alimentacao natural dos peixes (métodos de estudo). Instituto de Zoología Dr Augusto Nobre, Universidade do Porto. Série Monografias, 4 pp.Google Scholar
Vaske, T. Jr, Vooren, C.M. and Lessa, R.P. (2004) Feeding habits of four species of Istiophoridae (Pisces: Perciformes) from northeastern Brazil. Environmental Biology of Fishes 70, 293–304.Google Scholar
Wolff, C.A. (1982) A beak key for eight eastern tropical Pacific cephalopods species, with relationships between their beak dimensions and size. Fishery Bulletin 80, 357–370.Google Scholar
Wolff, C.A. (1984) Identification and estimation of size from the beaks of eighteen species of cephalopods from the Pacific Ocean. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Technical Report, No 17, 50 pp.Google Scholar
Wootton, R.J. (1998) Ecology of teleost fishes. 2nd edition. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 392 pp.Google Scholar