Feeding ecology and trophic level of Chimaera monstrosa Linnaeus, 1758 (Holocephali: Chimaeridae) in the Eastern Mediterranean
Articles > Article · 2016
Authors: Elizabeth Grace Tunka Eronat
Zoology in the Middle East, International, WoS, 2016, vol 62, pp 51-57
DOI: 10.1080/09397140.2015.1132560
Summary
The feeding ecology of Chimaera monstrosa at a depth of 550 m was studied off Sığacık Bay, Eastern Mediterranean, in 2008. Forty males and 57 females with a length between 7.80 and 45.5 cm were caught. 33 stomachs contained food items. The diet was composed of 11 prey items belonging to 6 groups: Bryozoa, Cnidaria, Crustacea, Mollusca, Tunicata, and Teleostei, of which Crustacea (IRI% [Index of Relative Importance]=80) and Mollusca (IR%=16) were the most abundant prey groups. The trophic level was estimated at 3.50, which is similar to the results from other studies in the western and northern part of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean but is higher than in the North Sea.