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Feeding habits of the Rio skate, Rioraja agassizi (Chondrichthyes: Rajidae), from off Uruguay and north Argentina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2010

Santiago A. Barbini  and
Luis O. Lucifora
Santiago A. Barbini*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ictiología, Departamento de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes 3350, Mar del Plata, B7602AYL, Argentina Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas del Gobierno de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (CIC), Calle 526 e/10 y 11, La Plata, B1906APN, Argentina
Luis O. Lucifora
Affiliation:
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Avenida Rivadavia 1917, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, C1033AAJ, Argentina Centro de Investigaciones Ecológicas Subtropicales (CIES) and Centro de Investigaciones del Bosque Atlántico (CeIBA), Casilla de Correo 9, Puerto Iguazú, N3370AVQ, Misiones, Argentina
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: S.A. Barbini, Laboratorio de Ictiología, Departamento de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes 3350, Mar del Plata, B7602AYL, Argentina email: sbarbini@mdp.edu.ar
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Abstract

The feeding habits of the Rio skate, Rioraja agassizi, from off Uruguay and north Argentina were evaluated using a multiple-hypothesis modelling approach. Relationships between number of preys and sex, maturity stage, body size, season and region were assessed by building generalized linear models. Rioraja agassizi fed mainly upon crustaceans (shrimps, crabs and amphipods) and teleosts, but also upon isopods, cumaceans, lancelets and polychaetes. Ontogenetic diet shifts were found: small R. agassizi consumed amphipods, cumaceans and isopods and large individuals on shrimps, crabs and teleosts. The consumption of crustaceans (amphipods, shrimps, crabs, isopods and cumaceans) was higher in the northern (34°–38°S) than in the southern area (38°–41°S). Rioraja agassizi consumed more teleosts in the cold season and preyed more on lancelets in the warm season. Prey size increased with increasing body size of R. agassizi, but large individuals also consumed small prey. Ontogenetic shifts may be related to body size rather than other life-history traits. Rioraja agassizi adapts its feeding habits in response to regional and seasonal changes.

Keywords

skatesfeeding ecologydiet shiftssouth-west Atlantic
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 91 , Special Issue 6: Fish Ecology , September 2011 , pp. 1175 - 1184
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

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