Feeding ecology and abundance of two sympatric skates, the shortfin sand skate Psammobatis normani McEachran, and the smallthorn sand skate P. rudis Guenther (Chondrichthyes, Rajidae), in the southwest Atlantic

The diet, feeding strategy, and abundance of Psammobatis normani and P. rudis in the southwest Atlantic was investigated to determine whether the species are segregated by habitat or dietary preference. The two coexist along the Argentine continental shelf, but there are differences in abundance. Th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:ICES journal of marine science 2007-07, Vol.64 (5), p.1017-1027
Main Authors: Mabragana, E, Giberto, DA
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chondrichthyes
Decapoda
Isopoda
Marine
Psammobatis
Rajidae
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The diet, feeding strategy, and abundance of Psammobatis normani and P. rudis in the southwest Atlantic was investigated to determine whether the species are segregated by habitat or dietary preference. The two coexist along the Argentine continental shelf, but there are differences in abundance. The most important prey for P. normani were crustaceans (mainly crabs and isopods) and, to a lesser extent, polychaetes, whereas P. rudis fed almost exclusively on crustaceans (mainly isopods, crabs, and gammarids), and fish and polychaetes contributed less to the diet. This suggests that P. normani and P. rudis are secondary consumers (trophic level
ISSN:1054-3139