Feeding behavior of three common fishes at an artificial reef in the northern Adriatic Sea
Fabi, G.; Manoukian, S.; Spagnolo, A. (2006). Feeding behavior of three common fishes at an artificial reef in the northern Adriatic Sea. Bull. Mar. Sci. 78(1): 39-56
In: Bulletin of Marine Science. University of Miami Press: Coral Gables. ISSN 0007-4977; e-ISSN 1553-6955, more
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| Keywords |
Aquatic communities > Benthos > Zoobenthos
Aquatic organisms > Marine organisms > Fish > Marine fish
Behaviour > Feeding behaviour
Composition > Community composition
Fauna > Aquatic organisms > Aquatic animals > Shellfish > Marine organisms > Marine crustaceans
Fauna > Aquatic organisms > Aquatic animals > Shellfish > Marine organisms > Marine molluscs
Stocks > Depleted stocks
Structures > Hydraulic structures > Offshore structures > Artificial reefs
Cyprinidae A. d'Orbigny, 1844 [WoRMS]; Diplodus annularis (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]; Lithognathus mormyrus (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]; Pisces [WoRMS]; Sciaena umbra Linnaeus, 1758 [WoRMS]
MED, Adriatic Sea [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top |
- Fabi, G.
- Manoukian, S.
- Spagnolo, A.
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| Abstract |
The trophic role played by the Senigallia artificial reef (northern Adriatic Sea) in the diet of three finfish (Sciaena umbra Linnaeus, 1758, Diplodus annularis Linnaeus, 1758, and Lithognathus mormyrus Linnaeus, 1758) was investigated seasonally from 1997 to 1999. The gut contents of each species were compared with the benthic communities on the manmade structures, in the surrounding soft bottom, inside and outside the reef, as well as at an open-sea control site. Due to low fish densities in winter and spring, only summer and fall data were considered. The vertical walls of the manmade structures were colonized by hard-substrate species, while the horizontal surfaces accumulated sediment and developed a community of soft-bottom organisms. The community inhabiting the soft seabed included primarily mollusks and polychaetes. All of the three fish species fed on hard/soft-bottom organisms and mostly preferred crustaceans (decapods), although L. mormyrus and D. annularis also fed on considerable quantities of mollusks and cnidarians, respectively. The artificial structures provided the main source of food for the three fishes and the link with the reef declined from S. umbra to D. annularis to L. mormyrus. |
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