The inshore waters off the Argentine Islands host a diversified benthic fish community largely dominated by the black rockcod, Notothenia coriiceps. Compared to other areas along the western Antarctic Peninsula, the feeding habits of this species in this location are poorly known. Hence, the aim of the study is to assess food preferences by the stomach content examination, applying a sophisticated analytical approach. As reported elsewhere, the black rockcod is omnivorous, relying primarily on algae, gastropods, amphipods, euphausiids and fishes, each consumed with different foraging strategies. Based on multidimensional scaling statistical procedures, fish size and water depth are the primarily contributers to prey resource diversification and partitioning. Overall the sampled population of the black rockcod are generalist feeders with a relatively high between-phenotype component to the niche width, consisting of specialized individuals with little or no overlap in food resource use.

Feeding ecology of an inshore population of Notothenia coriiceps from the Argentine Islands, Bellingshausen Sea

La Mesa M
2022

Abstract

The inshore waters off the Argentine Islands host a diversified benthic fish community largely dominated by the black rockcod, Notothenia coriiceps. Compared to other areas along the western Antarctic Peninsula, the feeding habits of this species in this location are poorly known. Hence, the aim of the study is to assess food preferences by the stomach content examination, applying a sophisticated analytical approach. As reported elsewhere, the black rockcod is omnivorous, relying primarily on algae, gastropods, amphipods, euphausiids and fishes, each consumed with different foraging strategies. Based on multidimensional scaling statistical procedures, fish size and water depth are the primarily contributers to prey resource diversification and partitioning. Overall the sampled population of the black rockcod are generalist feeders with a relatively high between-phenotype component to the niche width, consisting of specialized individuals with little or no overlap in food resource use.
2022
Istituto di Scienze Polari - ISP
Diet · Feeding strategy · Antarctic fish · Black rockcod · Antarctic Peninsula
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14243/415012
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