Trophodynamic Indicators and Trophic level estimation of Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch, 1791) in the northern Oman Sea, Iran

Document Type : Biology(Animal)

Authors

1 Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Science and Technology, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Iran Fisheries Science Research Institute, Agricultural Research and Training Organization, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

In order to increase the knowledge of Nemipterus japonicus biology and ecology, an investigation of food habits of this species was surveyed seasonally from October 2017 to August 2018 in Oman Sea. In this survey, stomach contents fishes 210 were studied (91 female and 119 male). According, some indexes such as; the feeding intensity index (2.60%), the index is empty stomachs (43.80%), the mean Trophic levels (4.08), and the rate of food consumption (9 per year) was calculated. Total four major taxonomic categories were identified in the stomach contents of this species and were weighted including arthropods (Crustaceans), Cephalopods, Teleostei and Sea weeds and the results show that Arthropods with an abundance of 55.75% was the most abundant prey item. According to the Prey Occurrence Index, the Portunidae (61.19%), Squilla mantis (28.35%) and digested bone fish (20.89%), were divided as the main, the incidental and occasional food, respectively. The results showed that the highest intensity of feeding occurs in winter (50.77%) and the lowest in fall (35.20%). Also N. japonicus shows cannibalistic behavior in ecosystem in winter (3.00%) and in spring (6.00%) respectively. According to the results of this research that has been done for the first time in the northern of Oman Sea, the results of frequency of occurrence of prey showed that N. japonicus is carnivore and also on the basis of the index empty stomachs is the average rate of food consumption this species of fish.

Keywords


  1. Acharya, P.; Jaiswar, A.K.; Palaniswamg, R. and Gulati, D.K., 1994.  A study of food and feeding habits of Nemipterus japonicas (Bloch, 1791) of Bombay coast Indian Journal of Fisheries. Vol. 24, pp: 73- 80.
  2. Akhtar, Y., 2008. Feeding habitat and nematode parasites of some fishes of Karachi coast. PhD thesis, Jinnah University for women Karachi. 252 p.
  3. Ammundsen, P.A.; Gabler, H.M. and Staldvik, F.G., 1996. A new approach to graphical analysis of feeding strategy from stomach content data modification of the Costello method. Journal of Fish Biology. Vol. 48, pp: 607-614.
  4. Babbitt, K.J. and Meshaka, W.E., 2000. Benefits of eating conspecifics: effects of background diet on survival and metamorphosis in the Cuban tree frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis). Copeia. pp: 469-474.
  5. Bakhsh, A.A., 1994. The biology of thread bream, Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch) from the Jizan Region of the Red Sea. J. King Abdul-Aziz Uni. Vol. 7, pp: 179-189.
  6. Berg, J., 1979. Discussion of methods of investigating the food of fishes, with reference to a preliminary study of the prey of Gobiusculus flavescens. Mar. Biol. Vol. 50, pp: 263-273.
  7. Biswas, S.P., 1993. Manual of Methods in Fish Biology. 1st Eden, South Asian Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. ISBN: 1-881318-18-4, 1157 p.
  8. Carpenter, E.K.; Krupp, F.; Jones, D.A. and Zajonz, U., 1997. The Living Marine Resources of Kuwait, Eastern Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. FAO Species Identification Field Guide for Fishery Purpose, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation, Rome, Italy. ISBN: 9251037418, 239 p.
  9. Christensen, V.; Walters, C.J. and Pauly, D., 2000. Ecopath with Ecosim: A user’s guide. Fisheries Center. University of British Columbia, Vancouver and ICLARM, Malaysia. 130 p.
  10. Gulati, D.K.; Steinarsson, B.A. and Stefansson, G., 2007. Analysis of survey data of (Nemipterus Japonicus) found along the west coast of India. The United Nations University, Fisheries Training Programme. 40 p.
  11. Hammar, J., 2000. Cannibals and parasites: Conflicting regulators of bimodality in high latitude Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus. Oikos. Vol. 88, pp: 33-47.
  12. Hyslop, E.J., 1980. Stomach contents analysis- A review of methods and their application, Journal of Fish Biology. Vol. 17, pp: 411-429.
  13. Jereb, P. and Roper, C.F.E., 2005. Cephalopods of the world. An Annotated and Illustrated catalogue of Cephalopod species known to date. Vol. 1. Chambered nautiluses and sepioids (Nautilidae, Sepiidae, Sepiolidae, Sepiadariidae, Idiosepiidae and Spirulidae). FAO Spec. Cat. Fish. Purp. Rome: FAO. Vol. 4, No. 1, 262 p.
  14. Ke, D.S.; Guan, Z.B.; Yu, H.S.; Wu, S.W., Han, L.M. and Jiang, Y.J., 2007. Environmental pollution and study trend in Pearl River Estuary. Marine Environmental Science. Vol. 26, No. 5, pp: 488 -491 (in Chinese, with English abstract).
  15. Kerdgari, M.; Valinassab, T.; Jamili, S.; Fatemi, M.R. and Kaymaram, F., 2009.  Reproductive biology of the Japanese threadfin bream, in the Northern of Persian Gulf. Journal of Fisheries Aquatic Science. Vol. 4. pp: 143-149
  16. King, M., 1995. Fisheries Biology, Assessment and Management. Fishing News Book. 342 p.
  17. Krishnamoorthi, B., 1971. Biology of the threadfin bream Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch). Ind. J. Fish. Vol. 18, pp: 1-21.
  18. Kumar, S. and Tembhre, M., 1996. Anatomy and Physiology of Fishes. Vikas Publishing. 275 p.
  19. Kuthalingam, M.D.K., 1965. Notes on some aspects of the fishery and biology of Nemipterus japonicus with special reference to feeding behavior. Ind. J Fish. Vol. 12, pp: 500-506.
  20. Manojkumar, P.P., 2004. Some aspects on the biology of Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch) from Veraval in Gujarat. Ind. J. Fish. Vol. 51, pp: 185-191.
  21. Monjezi Veysi, M.; Mahboobi Soofiani, N.; Valinassab, T. and Daryanabard, G.R., 2017.   Determination of CPUA and distribution pattern of families Haemulidae, Nemipteridae and Ariidae in the Oman Sea. Iranian Journal of Fisheries Sciences. Vol. 16, No. 4, pp: 1297-1311.
  22. Nair, K.V.S.; Reghu, R.; Balachandran, K.; Menon, N.G.; Chakraborty, S.K.; Zachariah, P.U.; Vivekanadan, E.; Mohanaraj, G.; Rengaswamy, V.S. and Raje, S.G., 1996. Threadfin breams and Lizardfish resources in the shelf waters of Indian EEZ. New Delhi India Department. pp: 363-374.
  23. Palomares, M.L.D. and Pauly, D., 1999. A multiple regression model for predicting the food consumption of marine fish populations. Marine and Freshwater Research. Vol. 40, No. 3, pp: 259-273.
  24. Pauly D., 1983. Some simple methods for the assessment of tropical fish stocks. FAO Fish. Technical Paper. No. 234, 52 p.
  25. Pauly, D. and Christensen, V., 2000. Trophic Levels of Fishes. In: (Froese, ­R. and Pauly, D., eds.). Fish Base: Concepts, Design and Data Sources. Manila, Philippines: ICLAR. 181 p.
  26. Pauly, D.; Christensen, V.; Dalsgaard, J.; Froese, R. and Torres, F., 1998. Fishing down marine Webs. Journal Science, new series. Vol. 279, No. 5352, pp: 860-863.
  27. Raje, S.G., 2002. Observations on the biology of Nemipterus japonicus from Veraval. Ind. J. Fish. Vol. 49, pp: 433-440.
  28. Randal, J.E., 1995. The complete divers and fishermans guide to coastal fishes of Oman. University of Hawaii press. 439 p.
  29. Russell, B.C., 1990. FAO species catalogue. Nemipteridae Fishes of the World. (Threadfin breams, Whiptail breams, Monocle breams, Dwarf monocle breams, and Coral breams). FAO Fisheries Synopsis. No. 125, Volume 12. Rome.149 p.
  30. Smith, M.M. and Heemstra, P.C., 1986. Smith's sea fishes springer velage, New York. 1047 p.
  31. Sparre P. and Venema S.C., 1998. Introduction to tropical fish stock assessment. Part 1. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 306.1, Rome, Italy. 450 p.
  32. Taghavi Motlagh, S.A.; Vahabnezhad, A.; Shabani, M.J., Nazari, M.A. and Hakimelahi, M., 2012. Studies on the Reproductive Biology of the Female Saurida tumbil in the Persian Gulf (Bushehr Province, Iran), World Journal of Fish and Marine Sciences. Vol. 4, No. 4, pp: 400-406.
  33. Vinci, G.K., 1982. Threadfin bream (Nemipterus japonicus) resources along the Kerala coast with notes on the biology of Nemipterus japonicus. Indian J. Fish Biol. Vol. 29, pp: 37-49.
  34. http://www.fishbase.org/summary/4559.