Diet of the blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, off the south coast of Portugal
The blue marlin, Makaira nigricans (Istiophoridae), is a large, top predator with a worldwide distribution whose feeding ecology is still unknown in the northeast Atlantic. The stomach contents of 24 Atlantic blue marlin, caught by the Big Game fishing fleet (between 2007 and 2010) off the south coa...
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ftunivalgarve:oai:sapientia.ualg.pt:10400.1/8783 2023-05-15T17:41:24+02:00 Diet of the blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, off the south coast of Portugal Veiga, Pedro Xavier, J. C. Assis, C. A. Erzini, Karim 2011 http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/8783 https://doi.org/10.1080/17451000.2011.578648 eng eng Taylor & Francis WOS:000299033700010 1745-1000 AUT: KER00534; http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/8783 doi:10.1080/17451000.2011.578648 openAccess article 2011 ftunivalgarve https://doi.org/10.1080/17451000.2011.578648 2022-05-30T08:47:20Z The blue marlin, Makaira nigricans (Istiophoridae), is a large, top predator with a worldwide distribution whose feeding ecology is still unknown in the northeast Atlantic. The stomach contents of 24 Atlantic blue marlin, caught by the Big Game fishing fleet (between 2007 and 2010) off the south coast of Portugal, were studied. All marlin fed exclusively on pelagic fish, with a total of 180 prey items recorded, belonging to 6 identified species. The most important family in the blue marlin diet was Scombridae, representing 70% of the total prey items. Among the Scombridae, the chub mackerel, Scomber colias, was the most important prey species (47.9% by weight, 51.1% by number, 58.3% by frequency of occurrence). The length of prey found in the stomachs ranged from 136 to 727 mm in length, and a significant positive correlation was found between prey and blue marlin size. Our results suggest that in this geographical area (NE Atlantic) marlin feed on a small spectrum of species, with a preference for foraging on seamounts. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northeast Atlantic Universidade do Algarve: Sapienta Marine Biology Research 7 8 820 825 |
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Open Polar |
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Universidade do Algarve: Sapienta |
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ftunivalgarve |
language |
English |
description |
The blue marlin, Makaira nigricans (Istiophoridae), is a large, top predator with a worldwide distribution whose feeding ecology is still unknown in the northeast Atlantic. The stomach contents of 24 Atlantic blue marlin, caught by the Big Game fishing fleet (between 2007 and 2010) off the south coast of Portugal, were studied. All marlin fed exclusively on pelagic fish, with a total of 180 prey items recorded, belonging to 6 identified species. The most important family in the blue marlin diet was Scombridae, representing 70% of the total prey items. Among the Scombridae, the chub mackerel, Scomber colias, was the most important prey species (47.9% by weight, 51.1% by number, 58.3% by frequency of occurrence). The length of prey found in the stomachs ranged from 136 to 727 mm in length, and a significant positive correlation was found between prey and blue marlin size. Our results suggest that in this geographical area (NE Atlantic) marlin feed on a small spectrum of species, with a preference for foraging on seamounts. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Veiga, Pedro Xavier, J. C. Assis, C. A. Erzini, Karim |
spellingShingle |
Veiga, Pedro Xavier, J. C. Assis, C. A. Erzini, Karim Diet of the blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, off the south coast of Portugal |
author_facet |
Veiga, Pedro Xavier, J. C. Assis, C. A. Erzini, Karim |
author_sort |
Veiga, Pedro |
title |
Diet of the blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, off the south coast of Portugal |
title_short |
Diet of the blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, off the south coast of Portugal |
title_full |
Diet of the blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, off the south coast of Portugal |
title_fullStr |
Diet of the blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, off the south coast of Portugal |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diet of the blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, off the south coast of Portugal |
title_sort |
diet of the blue marlin, makaira nigricans, off the south coast of portugal |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/8783 https://doi.org/10.1080/17451000.2011.578648 |
genre |
Northeast Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northeast Atlantic |
op_relation |
WOS:000299033700010 1745-1000 AUT: KER00534; http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/8783 doi:10.1080/17451000.2011.578648 |
op_rights |
openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/17451000.2011.578648 |
container_title |
Marine Biology Research |
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7 |
container_issue |
8 |
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820 |
op_container_end_page |
825 |
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1766142943624691712 |