Protected Resources Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
J Fish Biol. 2013 Aug;83(2):326-42. doi: 10.1111/jfb.12173. Epub 2013 Jul 9.
To test the hypothesis that prey partitioning contributes to community stability in flyingfish, the gut contents of 359 flyingfish specimens (representing five genera and eight species within Exocoetidae and Hemiramphidae) were collected at 50 dip-net stations during hour-long night-time fishing in oceanic waters of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean between August and November 2007. Analyses using multidimensional scaling, and analysis of similarity revealed significant dietary differences among species, and similarity percentages tests helped identify the specific prey taxa responsible for these differences. Six species specialized on copepods (58·3-96·9% by number), but targeted different families. Specifically, the barbel flyingfish Exocoetus monocirrhus (n = 205) focused on euchaetids (51·6%), the banded flyingfish Hirundichthys marginatus (n = 24) fed on pontellids (21·8%), while the tropical two-wing flyingfish Exocoetus volitans (n = 11) and the bigwing halfbeak Oxyporhamphus micropterus (n = 34) ingested calanoids (54·6 and 17·0%). In contrast, the whitetip flyingfish Cheilopogon xenopterus (n = 73) and the mirrorwing flyingfish Hirundichthys speculiger (n = 4) had generalized diets comprising similar proportions of amphipod, copepod, mollusc and larval fish prey. Distinct differences in mean fullness, highly digested material, per cent empty guts and mean numbers of prey per gut were also synthesized, and uncovered a pattern of asynchronous feeding. Altogether, these findings provide valuable descriptive data on the diets of an understudied group of epipelagic teleosts, and, by extension, suggest that prey partitioning (taxa and feeding times) may influence flyingfish feeding ecology by reducing interspecific competition.
为了检验猎物分区有助于飞鱼群落稳定的假设，我们在 2007 年 8 月至 11 月期间，在东太平洋热带海域的 50 个夜间延绳钓站，使用网兜采集了 359 个飞鱼标本（代表了飞鱼科和鳞鳍鱼科中的 5 个属和 8 个种）的肠道内容物。多维尺度分析和相似性分析显示，不同种之间存在显著的饮食差异，相似性百分比检验有助于确定导致这些差异的特定猎物分类群。有 6 种飞鱼专门以桡足类为食（数量占比 58.3-96.9%），但针对的是不同的科。具体而言，单环飞鱼（Exocoetus monocirrhus，n=205）主要以哲水蚤科（51.6%）为食，条纹飞鱼（Hirundichthys marginatus，n=24）以磷虾科（21.8%）为食，而热带双翅飞鱼（Exocoetus volitans，n=11）和大翅半颚鱼（Oxyporhamphus micropterus，n=34）则以桡足类（54.6%和 17.0%）为食。相比之下，白鳍飞鱼（Cheilopogon xenopterus，n=73）和镜像飞鱼（Hirundichthys speculiger，n=4）的饮食则较为多样化，包含了相似比例的端足类、桡足类、软体动物和幼鱼猎物。我们还综合了平均饱满度、高度消化物质、空肠比例和每肠猎物数量的差异，揭示了一种非同步摄食的模式。总的来说，这些发现为研究较少的上层鱼类的饮食提供了有价值的描述性数据，并进一步表明，猎物分区（分类群和摄食时间）可能通过减少种间竞争来影响飞鱼的摄食生态学。
