Temporal variation of the larval diet of Bregmaceros bathymaster (Pisces: Bregmacerotidae) along the coast of Jalisco and Colima, Mexico, during one annual cycle (1996)

• Published in: Ciencias marinas Vol. 32; no. 1A; pp. 13 - 21
• Main Authors: Siordia Cermeno, MP, Sanchez Velasco, L, Sanchez Ramirez, M, Franco Gordo, MC
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Spanish
• Published: Universidad Autónoma de Baja California 01-03-2006
• Subjects: Acrocalanus; Bregmaceros bathymaster; Bregmacerotidae; coasts of Jalisco and Colima; Copepoda; diet composition; Euterpina; fish larvae; Marine; Ostracoda; Penilia avirostris; Pisces; Subeucalanus; zooplankton; ISE, Mexico, Jalisco; ISE, Mexico, Colima
• ISSN: 0185-3880; 2395-9053
• DOI: 10.7773/cm.v32i1.69

Temporal variations in the larval diet of Bregmaceros bathymaster on the coast of Jalisco and Colima during 1996 were analyzed. An increase in feeding incidence, in trophic spectrum , and in prey size was observed in relation to larval development. Copepods in different stages of development dominated the larval diet with >80% of the total prey in preflexion larvae (nauplii and calanoids) and >60% in larvae in transformation (Euterpina spp. and calanoids). The Morisita index defined three groups of sampling stations based on larval diet and zooplankton environment. In the winter group, Euterpina spp., and Subeucalanus spp. dominated the diet, coinciding with the copepods predominance in the environment. In the spring group, Penilia avirostris and ostracods dominated the diet and the zooplankton. In the summer/autumn group, Acrocalanus spp., and ostracods dominated the diet, whereas ostracods and copepods dominated the zooplankton. The results indicate that the temporal changes in the larval diet of B. bathymaster are associated with the variation in zooplankton, corresponding to three climate periods that affect the study area.