Research Article: Feeding habits of the flying gurnard, Dactylopterus volitans (Linnaeus, ۱۷۵۸), on the continental shelf of Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire

The feeding habits of the flying gurnard, Dactylopterus volitans, caught by industrial trawlers operating on the continental shelf of Côte d'Ivoire were examined. A total of ۱۳۳۷ specimens, including ۳۵۱ males and ۹۸۶ females were collected at the fishing harbour of Abidjan from January ۲۰۱۹ to December ۲۰۲۰. The diet of fish with a size ranging from ۶۰ to ۳۹۰ mm standard length was described using the prey-specific index of relative importance (%PSIRI), combining occurrence, numerical and weight percentages. The stomach contents revealed that ۹۰۱ (۶۷.۳۸%) stomachs were empty, whilst ۴۳۶ (۳۲.۶۲%) were full. The diet was composed of twenty-six prey items including shrimps, teleost fishes, crabs, bivalves, gastropods and cephalopods. Based on the PSIRI (%), the most important prey items were shrimps (۴۱.۱۱ %PSIRI), especially Penaeus notialis (۲۰.۱۰ %PSIRI) and teleost fishes (۳۱.۸۷ %PSIRI). Crabs (۱۹.۳۸ %PSIRI) are considered as secondary preys, whereas the other preys such as cephalopods (۴.۹۵ %PSIRI), gastropods (۱.۳۸ %PSIRI) and bivalves (۱.۳۱ %PSIRI) were incidental preys. The presence of a variety of mobile preys in the stomachs indicates that this species is a carnivorous feeder.

کلیدواژه ها:

Feeding habits ، Dactylopteridae ، Generalist feeder ، Gut fullness ، Gulf of Guinea