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Feeding and Diet Overlap of Six Estuarine Fishes (Family Carangidae) from the Mexican Pacific Region

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Abstract

Caranx caninus, C. sexfasciatus, Chloroscombrus orqueta, Selene brevoortii, S. peruviana, and Selar crumenophthalmus are species with economic importance for local artisanal fisheries and are regular components of the fish assemblage at Barra de Navidad coastal lagoon in the Pacific coast of Mexico. The working hypothesis was that carangid species in the lagoon share a common food base but the proportion of main food categories in the diet will be different for some groups of species due to differences in key morphological characteristics of the carangids. A total of 1251 individuals were used for diet analyses. Stomach content analyses showed that five species feed on benthic invertebrates and small fish while one species was mostly a plankton feeder. A partial sharing of main food resources was found for most of the studied species, but significant differences in the proportion of food categories in the diet were identified for several groups of species. Another aspect of diet variation was associated with predator size whereby larger individuals tended to consume the largest prey. A plausible explanation for the variation observed in feeding habits is based on morphological differences among groups of species which favor piscivory or planktivory in some cases. This paper is the first published report on the feeding habits of all six species in any Mexican estuarine habitat and of four species in Eastern Pacific estuarine waters.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Armando Alvízar Martínez and marine biology students from the University of Guadalajara for their valuable help in the field and the lab work. Comments by Jill A. Olin, Brendan Ebner, and an anonymous reviewer contributed significantly to enhance the quality of the manuscript.

Funding

This study was partially supported by a Master’s student grant from the Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT); a joint research grant from Jalisco State´s Council of Science and Technology and University of Guadalajara, COECYTJAL-UDG Project (5-2010-1-746); a grant from the Mexico´s Program for the Teaching Professional Development (PROMEP) for a new fulltime professor (103.5/12/3418); and a research project funded by the University of Guadalajara.

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  1. Departamento de Estudios para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Zonas Costeras, Universidad de Guadalajara, Gómez Farías 82, 48980, San Patricio-Melaque, Jalisco, México

    Luisa Elena Velasco-Reyes, Consuelo María Aguilar-Betancourt, Gaspar González-Sansón & María Fernanda Ambriz-Casillas

  2. Maestría en Ciencias en Ecología y Manejo de Recursos Costeros y Marinos (ECoMaR), Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, México

    Luisa Elena Velasco-Reyes

  3. Canadian Rivers Institute, 100 Tucker Park Rd, New Brunswick, Saint John, NB, E2L 4A6, Canada

    Consuelo María Aguilar-Betancourt & Gaspar González-Sansón

  4. Escuela Nacional de Ingeniería Pesquera, Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit, Apartado postal No. 10, Bahía de Matanchén km 12, 63740, San Blas, Nayarit, México

    Juan Ramón Flores-Ortega

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  1. Luisa Elena Velasco-Reyes
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  2. Consuelo María Aguilar-Betancourt
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Correspondence to Consuelo María Aguilar-Betancourt.

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Communicated by: Jill A. Olin

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Velasco-Reyes, L.E., Aguilar-Betancourt, C.M., González-Sansón, G. et al. Feeding and Diet Overlap of Six Estuarine Fishes (Family Carangidae) from the Mexican Pacific Region. Estuaries and Coasts 45, 302–313 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-021-00950-1

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