Feeding patterns of the plain sculpin Myoxocephalus jaok (Cuvier, 1829) (Cottidae) and its position in the trophic system of near-Kamchatka waters

• Published in: Marine Biological Journal
• Main Author: A. M. Tokranov
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: A. O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of RAS 2018
• Subjects: plain sculpin Myoxocephalus jaok; Cottidae; seasonal; local; interannual and age-related changes in food composition; facultative ambuscade predator; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Bering Sea; Okhotsk; Pacific; alaska pollock; Chionoecetes opilio; Kamchatka; Theragra chalcogramma; Alaska
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.21072/mbj.2018.03.3.05; https://doaj.org/article/d98811ea7752450bb94b037efad2f209

Feeding patterns of the plain sculpin Myoxocephalus jaok in near-Kamchatka waters of the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea and Pacific Ocean are considered using materials collected during 1978–2008. This species of Cottidae is characterized by wide feeding spectra (over 100 nutritive objects); nonetheless, fishes (on average 64.1 %) and Decapoda (32.2 %) have the highest significance in its diet. The fishes include flatfish Pleuronectidae (24.3 % of food mass), Alaska pollock Theragra chalcogramma (14.4 %), Pacific sand lance Ammodytes hexapterus (9.5 %), and sculpins Cottidae (5.6 %). Decapoda include crabs from the family Majidae (22.4 %) (Chionoecetes opilio – 14.2 %, Hyas coarctatus – 8.1 %), and Atelecyclidae (4.7 %) (Telmessus cheiragonus – 4.5 %) and shrimps from the family Crangonidae (3.1 %). Seasonal, local, interannual, and age-related changes in food composition of the plain sculpin are considered. This species is a facultative ambuscade predator; it is characterized by a wide feeding spectra that permits it to use a considerable range of food components. In the trophic system of near-Kamchatka regions, units that form the biomass of the plain sculpin are determined.