Journal
JOURNAL OF THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
Volume 90, Issue 5, Pages 969-976Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0025315410000548
Keywords
devil rays; diet; Nyctiphanes simplex; stable isotopes; temporal variability
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Funding
- Instituto Politecnico Nacional of Mexico (IPN)
- Programa Institucional de Formacion de Investigadores (PIFI)
- Instituto Politecnico Nacional Estimulos al Desempeno de los Investigadores (EDI)
- Comision de Operacion y Fomento de Actividades Academicas (COFAA)
- Monterey Bay Aquarium
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This study confirms the diet and determines the trophic position of the bentfin devil ray (Mobula thurstoni) and spinetail devil ray (Mobula japanica) in the south-west Gulf of California. There has been an active fishery in the area for these filter-feeding elasmobranchs, which are highly susceptible to exploitation due to low fecundity and long lifespan. However, information on their basic biology is scarce. delta C-13 and delta N-15 values of devil rays and zooplankton (sorted according to trophic level: herbivores, carnivores and omnivores) were determined over a period of 11 months, to allow for isotopic temporal variations in isotopic signals at the base of the food web. On the basis of fractionation factors we determined that bentfin and spinetail devil rays fed mainly on Nyctiphanes simplex, the most abundant euphausiid in neritic waters of the Gulf of California. The trophic positions obtained for the devil rays correspond to second level consumers.
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