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1.
The feeding patterns of 12 teleost species taken by demersal trawl from two areas of the Cape coast and which fed predominantly on benthic and epibenthic prey are described. Prey selection varied intraspecifically with growth. There was considerable overlap in prey taken by different predators, although the dominant food differed between the two coasts and according to habitat (soft substrata or hard reefs). Prey selection varied with depth, probably as a result of the influence of depth and other physical features on prey species distribution. Small crustaceans were taken by all the predators and constituted the single most important group, especially for small predators. Brachyurans were important as prey, particularly in those species inhabiting hard substrata. Fish were of minor importance as food, except in Chelidonichthys capensis, Malacocephalus laevis and Helicolenus dactylopterus. Commercially important species of fish and cephalopods were preyed on only occasionally. It appeared that prey were selected according to their abundance, size, behaviour and habitat use. The use of benthic and epibenthic prey constitutes an important pathway for energy to return from the benthos to the foodweb.  相似文献   

2.
Fish communities over continental shelves are of three types: pelagic, rocky reef and soft substrata. The pelagic community of the South African west coast is dominated by clupeiform fish, which are the principal prey of snoek, the dominant piscivorous teleost in the area, and other fish, including tuna and pelagic sharks. Keystone prey species are broadly similar on the South African south and west coasts, but predator composition differs. Studies of rocky reef fish suggest that the fauna of the South Coast is more diverse than that of the West, the West Coast having fewer species and only two reef fish species being taken in linefisheries. Feeding interactions of some of the dominant species have been established, but the status of commercially less important fish such as elasmobranchs and small species is poorly known. The community and feeding interactions of fish living over soft substrata are better known and part of this fauna is taken by demersal trawlers. The two species of Cape hake dominate the communities on both coasts, but the fauna is more diverse on the Cape south coast. Generally, much of the present ichthyological knowledge is derived from the ecologically narrow perspective of commercial fisheries. Nevertheless, the patterns of diversity appear to conform to previous work, which has indicated a lower species diversity in the Atlantic than in the Indian Ocean. Knowledge of commercially unimportant fish is fragmentary, and understanding of the ecological interactions on the South Coast generally lags that of the West.  相似文献   

3.
Almost 1 000 South African fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus were collected at sea (inshore and offshore) for examination of stomach contents and other biological parameters. The main prey of seals above the age of one year was teleost fish, of which at least 28 species were identified. Overall, 74,6 per cent of the diet was teleost fish, 16,7 per cent cephalopods, 4,8 per cent crustaceans such as shrimps, prawns, amphipods and isopods and 3,2 percent rock lobster. Within this overall dietary pattern there were marked regional differences. The importance of individual fish species in the diet was investigated from the numbers and the sizes of otoliths occurring in the stomachs, from which the identity and size classes of the prey species could be calculated. Again there were regional differences in the importance of different prey species. On the west coast of South Africa the most important species were anchovy and Cape hakes (each 23% of total diet), whereas on the south coast the important species were anchovy (17%), horse mackerel (14%), pilchard (12%) and Cape hake (14%). Off South West Africa the two dominant species were pelagic goby (52%) and horse mackerel (23%), anchovy and Cape hake constituting only 4 and 5 per cent respectively of total diet. The total annual consumption of anchovy and Cape hake by seals in South African waters was calculated at 125 000 and 120 000 tons respectively.  相似文献   

4.
Literature on trophic relationships in the Benguela ecosystem has stressed the importance of cephalopods as prey of groundfish. The groundfish community of the shelf and upper slope of southern Africa is dominated by the Cape hakes, and the results presented (1984–1991) confirm that both species of hake are important predators of cephalopods, especially taking into consideration the abundance of hake in the ecosystem. However, geographic, seasonal and species variability are evident in the patterns observed. The main prey species are Sepia spp. (predominantly Sepia australis), Loligo vulgaris reynaudii, Todaropsis eblanae and Lycoteuthis ?diadema. The last-named is an important food organism for fish. Its systematic status needs revision, however. Qualitative results of studies of cephalopod predation are also provided for kingklip and monkfish.  相似文献   

5.
Spatial and size/age distributions of seven teleost species are described from a series of five annual trawling surveys made over the continental shelf and upper slope (20–500 m) of the South African south coast between Cape Agulhas and Port Alfred. The catch was quantified and scaled up to an estimate of an annual biomass index for each of the principal species. The fish studied were the two species of Cape hake Merluccius capensis and M. paradoxus, kingklip Genypterus capensis, Agulhas sole Austroglossus pectoralis, Cape horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus capensis, monk Lophius vomerinus and panga Pterogymnus laniarius. Each showed varying patterns of biomass fluctuation annually, although the surveys constituted too short a data series to reveal significant trends. Nevertheless, declines in abundance of panga and kingklip supported data collected from other sources over a longer period. Interpretation of the data is tempered by a realization that species which are patchily distributed or less vulnerable to the sampling gear may have been inadequately sampled. The information can be used for more-effective management of the multi-species demersal trawl fishery of the region.  相似文献   

6.
The food habits of five species of eels and one species of spiny eel collected from the upper continental slope off the Cape west coast and Agulhas Bank, South Africa, are described. All a re embers of a defined demersal micro- or mesocarnivore feeding guild except Simenchelys parasitica, a scavenger. Two congrids, Bassanago albescens and Gnathophis capensis and the spiny eel Notacanthus sexspinis usually employ the demersal grazer feeding method and infrequently switch to picking nekton in the water column. Two synaphobranchids, Diastobranchus capensis and Synaphobranchus kaupii, are chiefly demersal mesocarnivores that stalk prey, but also pick nekton and scavenge. A significant amount of the prey ofthe three large eels, B. albescens and the two synaphobranchids, consisted mainly of mesopelagic stomiiform, myctophid and juvenile gadiform fish, penaeid and caridean shrimps and various squid taken at the bathyal/deep-pelagic interface, as was found previously with some grnadiers (Macrouridae. Five categories of fleshy remains are documented for the scavenging Simenchelys parasitica for the first time.  相似文献   

7.
Cape fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus were harvested to extirpation on the Robberg Peninsula, Plettenberg Bay, on the south-east coast of South Africa, between the 17th and early 20th centuries. Seals returned to Robberg in small numbers during the early 1990s and their numbers subsequently increased. We studied the diet of this increasing population using faecal (scat) sampling to determine: the species composition and size of prey in the diet of Cape fur seals at Robberg; to explore temporal variation in the diet; and to investigate the potential for competition between seals and the fisheries around Plettenberg Bay. Of the 445 scats collected, 90% contained hard prey remains and 15 teleost prey species were represented in the 3 127 otoliths that could be identified. The seals’ most important prey species in terms of numerical abundance, frequency of occurrence and mass in the diet, were anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus, sardine Sardinops sagax, horse mackerel Trachurus capensis, sand tongue-fish Cynoglossus capensis and shallow-water hake Merluccius capensis (in decreasing order of importance for numerical abundance). The proportion of anchovy in the diet increased during the study period (2003–2008), whereas the proportion of sardine decreased. The estimated average annual consumption of sardine by seals was higher than the average annual catch made by purse-seine fisheries in this area, suggesting resource competition between seals and purse-seiners, especially in the light of continuing growth of seal numbers in the area. However, direct competition between seals and linefisheries appeared to be minimal. Scat sampling of Cape fur seals holds potential to serve a useful and cost effective indicator of temporal changes in sardine abundance.  相似文献   

8.
The two sympatric species of Cape hake, Merluccius capensis and M. paradoxus, have been the main targets of bottom-trawl fisheries off Namibia for several decades. The feeding ecology of these hakes has been studied mainly using stomach content analyses and thus there remain some gaps in our knowledge about food assimilated over the longer term. In this study, we used fatty acid (FA) profiles to characterise the dietary relationships of M. capensis and M. paradoxus. Muscle samples from hake (n=110) and their known prey (n=68) were collected during trawl surveys off Namibia during 2011. Significant differences between the neutral FA profiles of the hake populations were detected in December 2011 but not in January 2011, an indication of temporal variations in diet and resource partitioning. Comparisons of the neutral FAs in hake and the total FAs of potential prey showed no clear trophic connections, with the exception of flying squid Todarodes sagittatus, which had FA profiles very similar to those of M. paradoxus in December 2011. Our results highlight the complex and temporally shifting relationships that exist between hake and the large pool of prey available to them, and between the two hake species that overlap in their feeding habits and distribution within the highly productive Benguela Current region.  相似文献   

9.
Megafaunal assemblages were studied in August–September 1992 using a towed camera sled along seven cross-isobath transects on the continental slope off Cape Hatteras. A total of 20,722 megafaunal organisms were observed on 10,918 m2 of the sea floor between the depths of 157 and 1 924 m. These data were compared with data previously collected off Cape Hatteras in 1985 and at other locations along the eastern U.S. coast between 1981 and 1987. Megafaunal populations on the upper and lower slopes off Cape Hatteras were fouond to be similar, in terms of density and species composition, to those observed at the other locations.In contrast, megafaunal abundances were found to be elevated (0.88 and 2.65 individuals per m2 during 1985 and 1992, respectively) on the middle slope off Cape Hatteras when compared to most other slope locations (<0.5individuals per m2). These elevated abundances mainly reflect dense populations of three demersal fish, two eel pouts (Lysenchelys verrilli andLycodes atlanticus) and the witch flounderGlyptocephalus cynoglossus, and a large anemone (Actinauge verrilli). These four species dominated the megafauna off Cape Hatteras, whereas they represented only a minor component of megafaunal populations found at other slope locations. Additionally, numerous tubes of the foraminiferanBathysiphon filiformis were observed off Cape Hatteras, but not elsewhere. The high density of demersal fish found off Cape Hatteras appears to be related to the high densities of infaunal prey reported from this area. The high densities ofA. verrilli andB. fuliformis may be related to the same factors responsible for the high infaunal densities, namely enhanced nutrient inputs in the form of fine particles. Extreme patchiness also was observed in the distributions of the middle slope taxa off Cape Hatteras. This patchiness may reflect the habitat heterogeneity of this exceptionally rugged slope and the sedentary nature of the organisms inhabiting it.  相似文献   

10.
The stomach contents of 36 South African fur seals beached over a 20 year period along the south-east coast of South Africa were examined. In all, 15 fish and nine cephalopod prey types were identified. Five species of fish (Merluccius capensis, Trachurus trachurus capensis, Cynoglossus zanzibarensis, Pterogymnus laniarius, Austroglossus pectoralis) and two cephalopods (Loligo vulgaris reynaudii, Octopus sp.) were of major importance in the diet. The proportion of demersal species in the diet is higher than previously reported, suggesting that the seals forage extensively on the sea floor. The most important fish species in the diet was M. capensis, and the most important cephalopod was L. v. reynaudii. Male and female seals showed distinct prey selection, suggesting possible intraspecific resource partitioning. There is no evidence of competition between seals and other top predators.  相似文献   

11.
Many top predators in the Benguela ecosystem feed on prey species targeted by commercial fisheries. Their roles as indicators of the state of exploited prey resources, as competitors with commercial fisheries for resources, and as susceptible to impact from commercial fishing on those resources are briefly considered. Trends in the occurrence of anchovy Engraulis capensis and pilchard Sardinops ocellatus in the diet of Cape gannets Morus capensis off South Africa's west coast are related significantly to survey estimates of the abundance of these fish species, and they provide useful confirmation of those estimates. In the 1980s, anchovy decreased in the diet of Cape gannets, but pilchard increased. In both the northern and southern portions of the Benguela system, groundfish were thought to eat most (66–73%) of the total quantity of cephalopods and vertebrates consumed by predators and man in the 1980s. South African fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus, predatory pelagic fish and man removed roughly equal amounts, with squids, seabirds and cetaceans having a smaller impact. In the 1980s, man and seals removed about two million tons live mass more than in 1930. Indices of the rate of natural mortality of anchovy and pilchard attributable to Cape gannets are not related to biomass of the prey species. That for anchovy was high in 1989 when a poor anchovy year-class was formed. Decreased abundance of anchovy led to poor breeding by Cape cormorants Phalacrocorax capensis in 1989 and 1990. A model linking the Cape cormorant population with anchovy is used to explore the impact of possible exploitation strategies for anchovy on Cape cormorants.  相似文献   

12.
Information on hake stomach contents collected during research cruises off the west coast of South Africa between 1988 and 1990 is analysed. Estimates of the annual consumption and daily ration of the Cape hakes Merluccius capensis and M. paradoxus are obtained. Coefficients of variation (CVs) for these estimates are estimated by a bootstrap variance-estimation procedure. Cape hakes are opportunistic feeders. Juveniles feed mainly on crustaceans and the diet becomes increasingly piscivorous with age. Anchovy were the dominant dietary item of juvenile M. capensis, although this may be a reflection of the fact that anchovy were readily available at the time of the surveys. The large number of anchovy found in the diet during this study highlights the dangers of extrapolating consumption estimates for opportunistic feeders to other time periods. Pooling of data across geographic and seasonal strata introduces substantial bias in estimates of consumption and daily ration for only the pelagic prey species. Estimates of annual consumption are highly sensitive to the cruise selected to provide the estimates of numbers-at-length, because these latter estimates vary substantially between cruises. Furthermore, estimates of annual consumption and daily ration by prey species are very imprecise due to the effects of small sample sizes, the opportunistic nature of and natural variability associated with feeding. This implies that it is unlikely that model-estimation procedures which utilize these data will be able to provide particularly precise predictions. Therefore, before any larger-scale stomach collection exercise is undertaken, it is advisable to perform simulation studies to assess the sampling intensity required to achieve the desired levels of accuracy and precision for predictions from multispecies model-estimation procedures which make use of such data.  相似文献   

13.
Estimates of consumption of fish by breeding seabirds in the southern Benguela region converge on 50–60 × 103 tons of food per year. Total annual avian consumption of food is approximately 15,5 × 104 tons, 74 per cent being taken by species which feed on pelagic prey and most of the rest by species which frequently feed on offal at demersal trawlers. Avian consumption is similar in magnitude to that of Cape fur seals and to the catch of the commercial fishery in the southern Benguela region, but far less than consumption by snoek, squid, and, probably, sharks and jellyfish.  相似文献   

14.
The food habits of 10 species of grenadier collected from the upper continental slope off South Africa's west coast and Agulhas Bank are described. Three feeding strategies were identified. Members of the demersal micro- or mesocarnivore feeding guild and grazer feeding method include Caelorinchus braueri, C. simorhynchus, juvenile Coryphaenoides striaturus, Lucigadus ori, Malacocephalus laevis, Nezumia brevibarbata, N. micronychodon and N. umbracincta. A second strategy, that of Caelorinchus matamua and adult Coryphaenoides striaturus, involved switching approximately equally from demersal grazing to midwater picking or stalking. The deep-pelagic Mesobius antipodum displayed a third strategy, that of a midwater mesocarnivore picking or stalking. Ontogenetic dietary shifts were noted for the primarily demersal grazers Caelorinchus braueri, C. simorhynchus, Coryphaenoides striaturus and Malacocephalus laevis. Mesopelagic fish, shrimps and squid formed part of the diet of all species. These prey, taken at the bathyal/deep-pelagic interface, are an important source of energy transport from productive surface waters to the deep benthos.  相似文献   

15.
A balanced trophic flow model of the southern Benguela ecosystem is presented, averaging the period 1980–1989 and emphasizing upper trophic levels. The model is based largely on studies conducted within the framework of the Benguela Ecology Programme and updates the results of an expert workshop held in Cape Town in September 1989. Small pelagic fish other than anchovy Engraulis capensis and sardine Sardinops sagax, mainly round herring Etrumeus whiteheadi and mesopelagic fish, were important components of the food web in the southern Benguela. Severe balancing difficulties were encountered with respect to the semi-pelagic resources (hake Merluccius spp.) and demersal top predators (sharks), indicating the need for further research on the interaction of these groups with their ecosystem. The model is compared to other existing trophic flow models of ecosystems in major upwelling areas, i.e. the northern Humboldt Current (4–14°S), the California Current (28–42°N) and the southern Canary Current (l2–25°N), and to two independently constructed models of the northern Benguela ecosystem. These models are compared using network analysis routines of the ECOPATH software, focusing on the interactions between the five dominant fish species (anchovy, sardine, horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus capensis, chub mackerel Scomber japonicus and hake) that support important fisheries in all systems. The upwelling systems rank by size rather than species dominance. The ratio of catches and primary production differs between systems, partly because of differences in fishing regimes. Predation on the five dominant fish groups by other fish in the system was the most important cause of fish mortality in all models. Fishery catches are generally a larger cause of mortality for these groups than predation by mammals. The ecological cost of fishing appears to be comparatively low in the southern Benguela, because catches are low compared with the primary production, but also because the fishery is relatively low in the foodweb. However, in view of the very tight foodweb demonstrated in the model. it is likely that an increase in fishing pressure would cause severe trade-offs with respect to other components of the southern Benguela ecosystem.  相似文献   

16.
Six species of skates were trawled commonly on the continental shelf off the Southern Cape during routine surveys of demersal fish between 1986 and 1990. Raja miraletus is a small skate found principally in shallow (<50 m) water that feeds mainly on small crustaceans, such as mysids and macrurans. The large Raja alba occurs over most of the continental shelf, is a piscivore throughout its life and preys heavily on flatfish, especially Cynoglossus zanzibarensis. R. cf. clavata is ubiquitous on the shelf but most abundant between 50 and 150 m deep. Feeding predominantly on crustaceans, this skate switches from carids, penaeids and mysids when small to brachyurans and small benthic fish when larger. R. pullopunctata is found over a similar depth range but attains a much larger size. It eats small mysids and macrurans when small, but brachyurans and fish become more important in the diet with increasing size of the predator. R. wallacei is most commonly taken at depths of 80–>200 m, feeds initially on small crustaceans, but switches to fish, including eels, as it grows. The small Cruriraja parcomaculata is found at the edge of the continental shelf and over the upper slope; it preys on small crustaceans, including mysids, isopods and macrurans. The distribution pattern of the skates and their prey suggest overlap in prey taken, the overlap being greatest in those species which feed on crustaceans. The large biomass of skates in the area suggests that they are an important component of the demersal faunal assemblage of the continental shelf there, and also that they may have a significant impact on the benthic fauna.  相似文献   

17.
The feasibility of a directed trap-fishery for panga Pterogymnus laniarius was investigated with special emphasis on minimising the bycatch. A total of 1 302 fish, representing 19 species, was captured in 59 trap deployments at three locations along the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa between September 2002 and July 2004. Panga comprised over 55% of the total catch, with an average of 12 panga per trap haul. Depth and substrate type had a significant effect on the species composition of the catch. Panga comprised 77% of the catch in depths >50m, whereas other commercially important species contributed 11% to the total catch in water >50m. No kingklip Genypterus capensis were captured in the traps and shallow-water Cape hake Merluccius capensis accounted for only 0.2% of the total catch composition. The findings suggest that trap-fishing provides a new fishing opportunity in South Africa with a high catch per unit effort for the target species and a low level of bycatch.  相似文献   

18.
The benthic fish community off Namibia (between the Cunene River and Walvis Bay) in 50–650 m of water was studied during three bottom trawl surveys. The community was investigated on the basis of distribution, abundance and diet of 51 species, constituting 95 per cent of the demersal fish biomass. Dietary studies revealed the existence of three major trophic groups, one containing species that prey on pelagic and nektonic organisms, a second dominated by predators that feed on benthic polychaetes and copepods and a third group containing predators of benthic crabs, demersal shrimps and fish. Well differentiated from these groups are a few species that prey mainly on jellyfish and ophiuroids. Because for most of the species, their trophic level changes with growth, they were divided into size classes which are analysed independently. To describe interactions between the size classes, a similarity index combining diet affinity with spatial coincidence was applied. Cluster analysis showed that, for Merluccius capensis, Raja straeleni, R. clavata and Trachurus trachurus, there is a large difference in both geographic distribution and dietary preference between the size classes. For species such as Hoplostethus atlanticus, Austroglossus microlepis and Coelorinchus flabellispinis, the different size classes seem to share the same ecological niche. Variation in the number of species and the parameters mean abundance and niche width are described to enhance knowledge of the general structure of the community.  相似文献   

19.
The shark species Carcharhinus brachyurus, C. obscurus and Sphyrna zygaena, which attain more than 2 m when adult, occur in coastal waters of the Southern Cape as juveniles. They use these coastal waters as nursery areas and their relative abundance there varies through the year, possibly because of seasonally varying oceanographic conditions. Adult C. brachyurus occur in the same geographic area but usually deeper, although there is some overlap in juvenile and adult depth ranges. Adult C. obscurus prefer the warmer subtropical and tropical waters north of the study area. Adult S. zygaena are found over deep reefs at the edge of the continental shelf. There was considerable dietary overlap between the three species, the prey of all three being dominated by small schooling fish, such as pilchard, and squid. For the three species, animals of total length >2 m took larger prey, such as elasmobranchs, with greater frequency, although they continued to prey on squid and schooling fish. It is postulated that the nursery areas are in the study area because of the abundance of food there, and that avoidance of cannibalism would be enhanced by the use of such nurseries.  相似文献   

20.
The diet of the Patagonian hake Merluccius australis polylepis in 1986 was determined by analysis of stomach samples collected from commercial trawl catches. The major prey items were Patagonian grenadier Macrouronus magellanicus and, to a lesser extent, southern blue whiting Micromesistius australis. Large (81–100 cm) hake are mainly piscivorous and consume more grenadier than smaller (51–80 cm) hake. The smaller hake feed both on fish and invertebrates. There was no difference by sex in terms of stomach contents. The daily feeding cycle was also investigated from samples collected during 1991. Hake feed principally on 1-, 2-, and 3-year-old grenadier, which they seem to catch mainly at night. The daily ration of grenadier was between 0,043 and 0,26 per cent of body mass (1,692–9,849 g). The results are similar to those for other hake species in terms of composition of the diet, daily feeding cycle and daily ration.  相似文献   

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