FOOD AND FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SOME DEMERSAL NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE FISHES IN THE NORTHERN AEGEAN SEA, TURKEY

Abstract

The present study represents the feeding habits of the native (Mullus barbatus barbatus Linnaeus, 1758, Mullu.s- surtnuletus Linnaeus, 1758 and Pagelhis erythrinus (Linnaeus, 1758)) and non-native (Nemipterus randalli Russell, 1986, Upeneus inoluccensis (Bleeker, 1855) and Upeneus port Ben-Tuvia & Golani, 1989) fish species collected off the Turkish Aegean coast throughout the seasonally between January to December 2017. It was determined that all species consume benthic organisms by examining a total of 672 stomach contents. The index of relative importance (IRI) revealed the most important food item according to species is: Crustacea for N. randalli (82.40%), P. erythrinus (44.15%), ALL surtnuletus (75,35%), U. tnoluccensis (98,48%) and U port (56,79,4); Polychaeta for M. barbatus barbatus (56.84%). A total of 40 prey species were identified from stomach contents of native and non-native fishes via the molecular method.