Preliminary results on the feeding and gut content of Flaccisagitta enflata in coastal areas of İskenderun Bay (northeastern Mediterranean Sea)
Abstract
In this study, it was aimed to characterize the feeding and diet composition of the most common pelagic chaetognath Flaccisagitta enflata. Zooplankton samples were collected using a WP-2 zooplankton net (200 µm) at three stations in the İskenderun Bay in October 2016, December 2016 and March 2017. F. enflata was the most abundant chaetognath in all samples and its proportion varied from 42 to 94%. Younger stages (I and II) dominated the population of F. enflata. In total, 1663 specimens were examined, but only 185 contained prey in their guts. The total food-containing ratio and the number of prey items for this chaetognath species were 11% and 0.1, respectively. These values varied for different maturity stages. Most food items were unidentified due to digestion. Copepods were the main food resource (36.8%) for the species. Cannibalism was also observed.
This
study is the first to describe F. enflata
feeding behaviour in the coastal area of İskenderun Bay. The preliminary
results show that the feeding ratios were within the ranges reported for other
regions in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Keywords
Kaynakça
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Ayrıntılar
Birincil Dil
İngilizce
Konular
-
Bölüm
Araştırma Makalesi
Yazarlar
Yayımlanma Tarihi
31 Ekim 2018
Gönderilme Tarihi
15 Mart 2018
Kabul Tarihi
16 Nisan 2018
Yayımlandığı Sayı
Yıl 1970 Cilt: 21 Sayı: 5
