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Vertical distribution and feeding of sergestid shrimps (Decapoda: Natantia) collected near Bermuda

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Abstract

Fourteen species of sergestid shrimps were collected in the Sargasso Sea between the surface and 1500 m near Bermuda on 4 cruises. The vertical distribution and feeding activity of the most abundant species are discussed in relation to interspecific competition and the adaptive significance of vertical migration. Each species lives within a narrow depth range and exhibits a diel vertical migration. Sergestes splendens migrated as much as 825 m, while S. japonicus migrated less than 100 m. Neither the seasonal nor permanent thermocline influenced the migration range. The only species which occurred together both day and night were S. pectinatus with S. vigilax and S. pectinatus with S. sargassi. Morphological differences in the third maxillipeds of these species suggest differences in feeding. Although most species eat a variety of organisms, the foreguts of S. grandis, S. corniculum, and S. splendens contained euphausiids more often than those of other species, and S. grandis and S. robustus fed more frequently on fishes. In contrast, S. japonicus appears to feed on detritus. Food was found in the foreguts of most species less frequently during the day than night, but no species fed only at night. S. sargassi and S. pectinatus fed equally day and night.

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Communicated by M.R. Tripp, Newark

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Donaldson, H.A. Vertical distribution and feeding of sergestid shrimps (Decapoda: Natantia) collected near Bermuda. Mar. Biol. 31, 37–50 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00390646

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