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Insights into the trophic interactions of the endemic shark Cephalurus cephalus: diet composition and first infection records of Anisakis and other nematodes

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Abstract

This study provides the first baseline information on the trophic interactions of the endemic shark Cephalurus cephalus through a multidisciplinary approach analyzing its diet, parasite component community, parasite diversity, and infection rates. Preys and parasites of 132 sharks caught off Magdalena Bay, Mexico, during June and July 2015 were identified and assessed ecologically adding new information on the behavior and interspecies interaction of C. cephalus. Diet of C. cephalus neonates, juveniles, and adults differed significantly. Individuals specialize on different prey types preying mainly on bentho-pelagic crustaceans, though the most important prey item was Pleuroncodes planipes (IRI 82.5%). The parasite component community was made up of larval stages of the nematodes Raphidascarididae, Ascarophis, Contracaecum, Anisakis, and Heliconema and adults of Mooleptus rabuka. Nevertheless, the infection was impoverished and mild from neonates to adults. Genetic evidence revealed the first infection by Anisakis berlandi and A. brevispiculata in a shark host. The encapsulated third stage larvae, impoverished abundance, and infection values of anisakids suggest that C. cephalus functions as facultative paratenic host for Anisakis spp. in open waters, though it serves as alternative final host for M. rabuka. Crustaceans and squids could potentially play different roles transmitting nematode species. However, the trophic link C. cephalus-Abraliopsis falco is proposed as a novel infection path for Anisakis spp. (redundancy analysis: R2 = 0.61, F = 2.742, permutations n = 999, p = 0.05). These findings reinforce the carcinophagus feeding trend of C. cephalus and mild nematode infection. Anisakis berlandi is confirmed in the study area and reveals a trans-Pacific range of distribution for A. brevispiculata.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Fernando Manini and the crew of R/V VIP for their valuable help and all the support during sampling. Special thanks to Raúl Cruz-Cosío and Roberto C. López-Archundia for collecting samples and laboratory work. We are also grateful to Delia I. Rojas-Posadas (Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at CIBNOR) for technical assistance. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions that greatly improved the final version of this article.

Funding

Funding was partially provided by the project “Transferencia de Paquete Tecnológico para la Pesquería de Merluza (Merluccius productus) en la Costa Occidental de la Península de Baja California, México (clave 224856)” Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste (CIBNOR) and CONACYT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Fisheries Wealth and Water Resources, Aquaculture Centre, P.O. Box 427, 100 Al Bustan, Muscat, Oman

    José Raúl Morales-Ávila

  2. Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, Carretera Al Sur Km 5.5., C.P. 23090, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico

    Mario Jaime-Rivera

  3. Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, Calle IPN No. 195, 23096, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico

    Norma Y. Hernández-Saavedra & César A. Salinas-Zavala

  4. CONAHCYT, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR), Ave. IPN S/N, 23096, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico

    Ignacio Leyva-Valencia

  5. Departamento de Plancton y Ecología Marina, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional, S/N, Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, Apdo. Postal 592, 23000, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico

    Sergio Hernández-Trujillo

  6. Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Aquaculture and Sea-Ranching, University of Rostock, Justus-Von-Liebig-Weg 6, 18059, Rostock, Germany

    Harry W. Palm

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  1. José Raúl Morales-Ávila
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  2. Mario Jaime-Rivera
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  3. Norma Y. Hernández-Saavedra
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  4. Ignacio Leyva-Valencia
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  5. César A. Salinas-Zavala
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  6. Sergio Hernández-Trujillo
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  7. Harry W. Palm
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to José Raúl Morales-Ávila or Mario Jaime-Rivera.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

No animal testing was performed during this study.

Sampling and field studies

All necessary permits for sampling and observational field studies have been obtained by the authors (or responsible researchers of the different research programs) from the competent authorities and are mentioned in the Acknowledgements.

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article. DNA sequences are also available in GenBank.

Author contribution

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by JRMA, MJR, and CSS. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JRMA, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Additional information

Communicated by S. E. Lluch-Cota

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Morales-Ávila, J.R., Jaime-Rivera, M., Hernández-Saavedra, N.Y. et al. Insights into the trophic interactions of the endemic shark Cephalurus cephalus: diet composition and first infection records of Anisakis and other nematodes. Mar. Biodivers. 53, 69 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-023-01375-8

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