Food composition of diamondback puffer Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Ribeiro, 1915 from the northeastern Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Stomach content analysis of fish not only helps document their food spectrum but also provides an overview of the food network they are involved in. In this study, we aimed to investigate the food composition of L. guentheri from the Iskenderun Bay, northeastern Mediterranean Sea. Specimens were collected from between January 2022 and August 2022. A total of 215 L. guentheri specimens stomachs were examined during the study for stomach content analysis. About 215 stomachs analysed, 60 (27.9%) stomachs were empty and 155 (72.1%) stomachs contained food items. Analysis of the diet composition showed that the fish are carnivorous and prey on pisces, crustacea, bivalves and cephalopoda. Based on the index of relative importance, pisces were identified as the most important prey (68%), followed by crustaceans (14%), bivalves (5%), cephalopoda (0.5%) and digested materials (12.5%). The results show that L. guentheri has a high feeding tendency to fish. This study increases the knowledge of the feeding preferences of L. guentheri. The present paper is also the first document on the diamondback puffer Lagocephalus guentheri food composition in the Mediterranean Sea.

Keywords

• Pufferfish
• food composition
• stomach content
• alien species

Kuzeydoğu Akdeniz'den elmas sırtlı balon balığı Lagocephalus guentheri Miranda Ribeiro, 1915'in besin kompozisyonu

Abstract

Balıklarda mide içeriği analizi besin spektrumlarını belgelemeye yardımcı olur ve aynı zamanda dahil oldukları besin ağı ile ilgili genel bilgi sağlar. Bu çalışmada, kuzeydoğu Akdeniz'de İskenderun Körfezi’nde yakalanan L. guentheri'nin beslenme ekolojisinin araştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Örnekler Ocak 2022 ile Ağustos 2022 tarihleri arasında yakalanmış ve çalışmada mide içeriği analizi için toplam 215 L. guentheri örneğinin midesi incelenmiştir. Analiz edilen 215 midenin 60'ı (%27.9) boş, 155'i (%72.1) ise gıda maddesi içermektedir. Diyet kompozisyonunun analizi, bu balıkların etçil olduğunu ve balıklar, kabuklular, çift kabuklular ve kafadan bacaklıları avlandığını göstermektedir. Önem indeksine göre, balıklar en önemli av olarak belirlenmiş (%68), bunu kabuklular (%14), çift kabuklular (%5), kafadan bacaklılar (%0.5) ve sindirilmiş materyaller (%12.5) takip etmektedir. Sonuçlar, L. guentheri'nin balıklara karşı yüksek bir beslenme eğilimine sahip olduğunu göstermektedir. Bu çalışma, L. guentheri'nin beslenme tercihlerine ilişkin bilgileri artırmaktadır. Bu makale aynı zamanda elmas sırtlı balon balığı Lagocephalus guentheri'nin beslenme stratejisi üzerine yapılan ilk Akdeniz’deki ilk çalışma niteliğindedir.

Keywords

• Balon balığı
• beslenme kompozisyonu
• mide içeriği
• yabancı türler

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