Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Food habits of the sandpaper skate, Bathyraja kincaidii (Garman, 1908) off central California: seasonal variation in diet linked to oceanographic conditions

  • Special Issue Skates
  • Published:
Environmental Biology of Fishes Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The stomachs of 130 sandpaper skates, Bathyraja kincaidii (Garman, 1908), were sampled from off central California to determine their diet composition. The overall diet was dominated by euphausiids, but shrimps, polychaetes and squids were also important secondary prey. A three-factor MANOVA demonstrated significant differences in the diet by sex, maturity status and oceanographic season using numeric and gravimetric measures of importance for the major prey categories. These three main factors explained more variation in diet than interactions between the factors, and season explained the most variance overall. A detailed analysis of the seasonal variation among the prey categories indicated that abundance changes in the most important prey, euphausiids, were coupled with seasonal changes in the importance of other prey. When upwelling occurred and productivity was great (Upwelling and Oceanic seasons), euphausiids were likely highly abundant in the study area and were the most important prey for B. kincaidii. As productivity declined (Davidson Current season), euphausiids appeared to decrease in abundance and B. kincaidii switched to secondary prey. At that time, gammarid amphipods and shrimps became the most important prey items and polychaetes, mysids and euphausiids were secondary.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abdel-Aziz SH, Khalil AN, Abdel-Maguid SA (1993) Food and feeding habits of the common guitarfish, Rhinobatos rhinobatos in the Egyptian Mediterranean waters. Indian J Mar Sci 22:287–290

    Google Scholar 

  • Ainley DG, Spear LB, Allen SG (1996) Variation in the diet of Cassin’s auklet reveals spatial, seasonal and decadal occurrence patterns of euphausiids off California, USA. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 137:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alonso MK, Crespo EA, García NA, Pedraza SN, Mariotti PA, Vera BB, Mora NJ (2001) Food habits of Dipturus chilensis (Pisces: Rajidae) off Patagonia, Argentina. ICES J Mar Sci 58:288–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barham EG (1957) The ecology of sonic scattering layers in the Monterey Bay area, California. Doctoral Diss Ser Pub No 21,564. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor 182 pp

  • Berestovskiy EG (1990) Feeding in the skates, Raja radiata and Raja fyllae, in the Barents and Norwegian seas. J Ichthyol 29(8):88–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolin RL, Abbott DP (1963) Studies on the marine climate and phytoplankton of the central coast area of California, 1954–1960. CalCOFI Rep 9:23–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Braccini JM, Perez JE (2005) Feeding habits of the sandskate Psammobatis extenta (Garman, 1913): sources of variation in dietary composition. Mar Freshwater Res 56:395–403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braccini JM, Gillanders BM, Walker TI (2005) Sources of variation in the feeding ecology of the piked spurdog (Squalus megalops): implications for inferring predator–prey interactions from overall dietary composition. ICES J Mar Sci 62:1076–1094

    Google Scholar 

  • Brickle P, Laptikhovsky V, Pompert J, Bishop A (2003) Ontogenetic changes in the feeding habits and dietary overlap between three abundant rajid species on the Falkland Islands’ shelf. J Mar Biol Ass UK 83:1119–1125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brinton E (1976) Population biology of Euphausia pacifica off southern California. Fish Bull 74(4):733–762

    Google Scholar 

  • Brinton E, Townsend A (2003) Decadal variability in abundances of the dominant euphausiid species in southern sectors of the California Current. Deep-Sea Res II 50:2449–2472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brodeur RD, Pearcy WG (1992) Effects of environmental variability on trophic interactions and food web structure in a pelagic upwelling system. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 84:101–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cailliet GM, Ebeling AW (1990) The vertical distribution and feeding habits of two common midwater fishes (Leuroglossus stilbius and Stenobrachius leucopsarus) off Santa Barbara. CalCOFI Rep 31:106–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Cailliet GM, Vaughan DL (1983) A review of the methods and problems of quantitative assessment of Loligo opalescens. Biol Oceanogr 2:379–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Camhi M (1999) Sharks on the Line II: an analysis of Pacific state shark fisheries. Living Oceans Program, National Audubon Society, Islip, NY, 116 pp

  • Cedrola PV, González AM, Pettovello AD (2005) Bycatch of skates (Elasmobranchii: Arhynchobatidae, Rajidae) in the Patagonian red shrimp fishery. Fish Res 71:141–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Compagno LJV (1990) Alternative life-history styles of cartilaginous fishes in time and space. Environ Biol Fish 28:33–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cortés E, Manire CA, Hueter RE (1996) Diet, feeding habits, and diel feeding chronology of the bonnethead shark, Sphyrna tiburo, in southwest Florida. Bull Mar Sci 58(2):353–367

    Google Scholar 

  • Croll DA, Marinovic B, Benson S, Chavez FP, Black N, Ternullo R, Tershy BR (2005) From wind to whales: trophic links in a coastal upwelling system. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 289:117–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Croll DA, Tershy BR, Hewitt RP, Demer DA, Fiedler PC, Smith SE, Armstrong W, Popp JW, Kiekhefer T, Lopez VR, Urban J, Gendron D (1998) An integrated approach to the foraging ecology of marine birds and mammals. Deep-Sea Res II 45:1353–1371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cushing DH (1971) Upwelling and the production of fish. In: Russell FS, Yonge M (eds) Advances in marine biology, vol 9. Academic Press, New York, pp 255–334

  • Dolgov AV (2005) Feeding and food consumption by the Barents Sea skates. e- Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science v 35, art 34. http://journal.nafo.int/35/34-dolgov.html

  • Dulvy NK, Metcalfe JD, Glanville J, Pawson MG, Reynolds JD (2000) Fishery stability, local extinctions, and shifts in community structure in skates. Cons Biol 14(1):283–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebert DA (2003) Sharks, rays and chimaeras of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 284 pp

  • Ebert DA, Cowley PD, Compagno LJV (1991) A preliminary investigation of the feeding ecology of skates (Batoidea: Rajidae) off the west coast of southern Africa. S Afr J Mar Sci 10:71–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis JR, Pawson MG, Shackley SE (1996) The comparative feeding ecology of six species of shark and four species of ray (Elasmobranchii) in the north-east Atlantic. J Mar Biol Ass UK 76:89–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferry LA, Cailliet GM (1996) Sample size and data analysis: are we characterizing and comparing diet properly? In: MacKinley D, Shearer K (eds) Gutshop ‘96 feeding ecology and nutrition in fish: symposium proceedings. American Fisheries Society, pp 71–80

  • Graham MH, Edwards MS (2001) Statistical significance versus fit: estimating the importance of individual factors in ecological analysis of variance. Oikos 93(3):505–513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray AE, Mulligan TJ, Hannah RW (1997) Food habits, occurrence, and population structure of the bat ray, Myliobatis californica, in Humboldt Bay, California. Environ Biol Fish 49:227–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardwick JE, Spratt JD (1979) Indices of the availability of market squid, Loligo opalescens, to the Monterey Bay fishery. CalCOFI Rep 20:35–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Holden MJ (1977) Elasmobranchs. In: Gulland JA (ed) Fish population dynamics. John Wiley & Sons, London, pp 187–215

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyslop EJ (1980) Stomach contents analysis – a review of methods and their application. J Fish Biol 17:411–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isaacs JD, Schwartzlose RA (1965) Migrant sound scatterers: interaction with the sea floor. Science 150:1810–1813

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jennings S, Reynolds JD, Mills SC (1998) Life history correlates of responses to fisheries exploitation. Proc R Soc Lond B 265(1393):333–339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King KJ, Clark MR (1984) The food of rig (Mustelus lenticulatus) and the relationship of feeding to reproduction and condition in Golden Bay. New Zeal J Mar Freshwater Res 18:29–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mabragaña E, Giberto DA, Bremec CS (2005) Feeding ecology of Bathyraja macloviana (Rajiformes:Arhynchobatidae): a polychaete-feeding skate from the south-west Atlantic. Sci Mar 69(3):405–413

    Google Scholar 

  • Marinovic BB, Croll DA, Gong N, Benson SR, Chavez FP (2002) Effects of the 1997–1999 El Niño and La Niña events on zooplankton abundance and euphausiid community composition within the Monterey Bay coastal upwelling system. Prog Oceanogr 54:265–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mauchline J (1980) The biology of mysids and euphausiids. In: Blaxter JHS, Russell FS, Yonge M (eds) Advances in marine biology, vol 18. Academic Press, New York, 681 pp

  • McEachran JD, Boesch DF, Musick JA (1976) Food division within two sympatric species-pairs of skates (Pisces:Rajidae). Mar Biol 35:301–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McInnis RR, Broenkow WM (1978) Correlations between squid catches and oceanographic conditions in Monterey Bay, California. Ca Dept Fish Game, Fish Bull 169:161–170

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller DJ, Lea RN (1972) Guide to the coastal marine fishes of California. Ca Dept Fish Game, Fish Bull 157, 249 pp

  • Musick JA, Berkeley SA, Cailliet GM, Camhi M, Hunstman G, Nammack M, Warren ML Jr (2000) Protection of marine fish stocks at risk of extinction. Fisheries 25(3):6–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muto EY, Soares LSH, Goitein R (2001) Food resource utilization of the skates Rioraja agassizii (Müller & Henle, 1841) and Psammobatis extenta (Garman, 1913) on the continental shelf off Ubatuba, south-eastern Brazil. Rev Brasil Biol 61(2):217–238

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neighbors MA, Wilson RR Jr (2006) Chapter 13 Deep sea. In: Allen LG, Pondella DJ, Horn MH (eds) The ecology of marine fishes: California and adjacent waters. Univ. of California Press, Berkeley, pp 342–383

  • Olson CL (1974) Comparative robustness of six tests of multivariate analysis of variance. J Am Stat Assoc 69(348):894–908

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orlov AM (1998a) The diets and feeding habits of some deep-water benthic skates (Rajidae) in the Pacific waters off the northern Kuril Islands and southeastern Kamchatka. Alaska Fish Res Bull 5(1):1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Orlov AM (1998b) On feeding of mass species of deep-sea skates (Bathyraja spp., Rajidae) from the Pacific waters of the northern Kurils and southeastern Kamchatka. J Ichthyol 38(8):635–644

    Google Scholar 

  • PacFin (2006) Washington, Oregon and California all species reports. http://www.psmfc.org/pacfin/woc.html (cited 10 Jan 2006)

  • Pacific Fisheries Environmental Laboratory (2006) PFEL coastal upwelling indices. http://www.pfeg.noaa.gov/products/PFEL/modeled/indices/upwelling/NA/upwell_menu_NA.html (cited 23 May 2006)

  • Paukert CP, Wittig TA (2002) Applications of multivariate statistical methods in fisheries. Fisheries 27(9):16–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pedersen SA (1995) Feeding habits of starry ray (Raja radiata) in west Greenland waters. ICES J Mar Sci 52:43–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pereyra WT, Pearcy WG, Carvey FE Jr (1969) Sebastodes flavidus, a shelf rockfish feeding on mesopelagic fauna, with consideration of the ecological implications. J Fish Res Board Can 26(8):2211–2215

    Google Scholar 

  • Perez CR (2005) Age, growth and reproduction of the sandpaper skate, Bathyraja kincaidii (Garman, 1908) in the eastern north Pacific Ocean. MS Thesis California State University, Monterey Bay, 95 pp

  • Perez JAA, Wahrlich R (2005) A bycatch assessment of the gillnet monkfish Lophius gastrophysus fishery off southern Brazil. Fish Res 72:81–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinkas L, Oliphant MS, Iverson ILK (1971) Food habits of albacore, bluefin tuna, and bonito in California waters. Ca Dept Fish Game, Fish Bull 152:1–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Ressler PH, Brodeur RD, Peterson WT, Pierce SD, Vance PM, Røstad A, Barth JA (2005) The spatial distribution of euphausiid aggregations in the northern California Current during August 2000. Deep-Sea Res II 52:89–108

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schoenherr JR (1991) Blue whales feeding on high concentrations of euphausiids around Monterey Submarine Canyon. Can J Zool 69:583–594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skogsberg T (1936) Hydrography of Monterey Bay, California. Thermal conditions, 1929–1933. Trans Am Phil Soc 29(1):1–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skogsberg T, Phelps A (1946) Hydrography of Monterey Bay, California. Thermal conditions, part II (1934–1937). Proc Am Phil Soc 90(5):350–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Slattery PN (1980) Ecology and life histories of dominant infaunal crustaceans inhabiting the subtidal high energy beach at Moss Landing, California. MS Thesis, San Jose State University, 114 pp

  • Smale MJ, Cowley PD (1992) The feeding ecology of skates (Batoidea: Rajidae) off the cape south coast, South Africa. S Afr J Mar Sci 12:823–834

    Google Scholar 

  • Somerton DA (1991) Detecting differences in fish diets. Fish Bull 89:167–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens JD, Bonfil R, Dulvy NK, Walker PA (2000) The effects of fishing on sharks, rays, and chimaeras (chondrichthyans), and the implications for marine ecosystems. ICES J Mar Sci 57:476–494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanasichuk RW (1998a) Interannual variations in the population biology and productivity of Euphausia pacifica in Barkley Sound, Canada, with special reference to the 1992 and 1993 warm ocean years. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 173:163–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanasichuk RW (1998b) Interannual variations in the population biology and productivity of Thysanoessa spinifera in Barkley Sound, Canada, with special reference to the 1992 and 1993 warm ocean years. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 173:181–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Templeman W (1982) Stomach contents of the thorny skate, Raja radiata, from the northwest Atlantic. J Northw Atl Fish Sci 3:123–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Tirasin EM, Jørgensen T (1999) An evaluation of the precision of diet description. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 182:243–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wakefield WW (1984) Feeding relationships within assemblages of nearshore and mid-continental shelf benthic fishes off Oregon. MS Thesis, Oregon State University, 102 pp

  • Walmsley-Hart SA, Sauer WHH, Buxton CD (1999) The biology of the skates Raja wallacei and R. pullopunctata (Batiodea: Rajidae) on the Agulhas Bank, South Africa. S Afr J Mar Sci 21:165–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamamura O, Inada T, Shimazaki K (1998) Predation on Euphausia pacifica by demersal fishes: predation impact and influence of physical variability. Mar Biol 132:195–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yaremko M (2001) California market squid. In: Leet WS, Dewees CM, Klingbiel R, Larson EJ (eds) California’s living marine resources: a status report. The Resources Agency, California Department Fish and Game, pp 295–298

  • Zar JH (1999) Biostatistical analysis. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 663 pp

  • Zorzi GD, Martin LK, Ugoretz J (2001) Skates and rays. In: Leet WS, Dewees CM, Klingbiel R, Larson EJ (eds) California’s living marine resources: a status report. The Resources Agency, California Department Fish and Game, pp 257–261

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the following people for assistance on various aspects of this project: Daniele Ardizzone, Joe Bizzarro, Aaron Carlisle, Chanté Davis, Colleena Perez, Heather Robinson, Wade Smith and Tonatiuh Trejo (Pacific Shark Research Center, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories), Don Pearson, John Fields, and E.J. Dick (NOAA Fisheries SWFSC, Santa Cruz Lab). Matt Levey created the area map and Josh Adams provided the computer program used to generate the randomized cumulative prey curves. We also thank Jim Ellis and an anonymous reviewer for their input. Specimens of Bathyraja kincaidii were collected under San Jose State University IACUC permit #801.

Funding for this research was provided by NOAA/NMFS to the National Shark Research Consortium and Pacific Shark Research Center, and in part by the National Sea Grant College Program of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under NOAA Grant No. NA04OAR4170038, project number R/F-199, through the California Sea Grant College Program and in part by the California State Resources Agency. Partial funding was also provided by the American Museum of Natural History Lerner-Gray Grant for Marine Research, the Dr. Earl H. and Ethel M. Myers Oceanographic and Marine Biology Trust and the Packard Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Shark Research Center, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing, CA, 95039, USA

    Christopher S. Rinewalt, David A. Ebert & Gregor M. Cailliet

Authors
  1. Christopher S. Rinewalt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David A. Ebert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gregor M. Cailliet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher S. Rinewalt.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rinewalt, C.S., Ebert, D.A. & Cailliet, G.M. Food habits of the sandpaper skate, Bathyraja kincaidii (Garman, 1908) off central California: seasonal variation in diet linked to oceanographic conditions. Environ Biol Fish 80, 147–163 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-007-9218-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-007-9218-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation