Seasonal variation in body size and diet of the sea star Astropecten marginatus (Paxillosida, Astropectinidae) off coast of Paraná, Southern Brazil

Autor: Pablo D. B. Guilherme, Leonardo C. Rosa
Jazyk: English<br />Spanish; Castilian
Rok vydání: 2014
Předmět:
Zdroj: Revista de Biología Tropical, Vol 62, Iss 1, Pp 73-83 (2014)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0034-7744
Popis: The sea star Astropecten marginatus has a neotropical distribution and is a highly abundant and frequent species in shrimp trawling by-catchin many places along the Brazilian coast. This has caused its threat to extinction and in addition, its bio-ecological aspects are poorly known. Thus, the main objective of this study was to analyze the seasonal variations of population length structure and feeding habits of the sea stars A. marginatus inhabiting off state of Paraná, Southern Brazil. The analyzed specimens were collected in February (summer), April (fall), June (winter) and October (spring) of 2008 from shrimp by-catch trawling. In the laboratory, each individual had its length measured and then weighed on an analytical scale. Afterwards, the stomach contents of 10 individuals of each of two most frequent length classes were seasonally analyzed. The relative frequency and abundance for each prey category was determined and, then combined into an index of alimentary importance. A total of 994 individuals of A. marginatus were collected with length ranging from 7.0 to 56.2mm, but most individuals were in the 20.1-25mm length classes. Individuals larger than 40mm were only collected in the spring while a few recruits (
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