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Feeding habits and trophic level of Himantura gerrardi (Elasmobranchii; Dasyatidae) in northern Oman Sea: effects of sex and size class
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A.R. Rastgoo1   , S.M.R. Fatemi1 , T. Valinassab *2 , M.S. Mortazavi3 |
1- Department of Marine Biology, Tehran Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2- Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute (IFSRI), Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), P.O. Box: 14965/149. Tehran, Iran. , t_valinassab@yahoo.com
3- Persian Gulf and Oman Sea Ecological Center, Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute (IFSRI), Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Bandar Abbas, Iran. |
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Abstract: (4653 Views) |
| The feeding habits and trophic level of Himantura gerrardi were studied according to sex and size classes of 80 individuals obtained using bottom trawl between May and December 2014 from the Oman Sea. Collected specimens were divided into three size classes (small<38 cm, medium 38-58 cm and large>58 cm) based on disk width. Prey was identified in seven main zoological categories, where crustacean and polychaetes were the dominant in diets, indicating this species is a demersal dwelling species. No significant differences were observed between sexes, but size classes showed significant differences in their diets. Also, results showed a decrease in feeding overlap between size classes with an increase in disk width, suggesting that intraspecific competition reduced, which allows the coexistence of different size classes. Trophic level was positively correlated with the disk width, which was lower than 4.0 for both sexes and different size classes, placing it in an intermediate trophic level. |
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| Keywords: Dasyatidae, Himantura gerrardi, Feeding habits, Trophic level, Oman Sea. |
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Full-Text [PDF 711 kb]
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Type of Study: Orginal research papers |
ePublished: 2018/01/23
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