title: Feeding strategy of juvenile (age-0+ year) Argentine hake Merluccius hubbsi in the Patagonian nursery ground.
abstract: Age-0+ year juvenile Argentine hake Merluccius hubbsi (60-150 mm total length, L(T)) from San Jorge Gulf, north Patagonian shelf region of the Argentine Sea, had an almost exclusively pelagic diet dominated by the hyperiid amphipod Themisto gaudichaudii and the euphausiid Euphausia lucens. This suggested that final settlement and permanent demersal habitat utilization might not, as previously reported, occur at earlier sizes (c. 20 mm L(T)). Their feeding strategy involves specialization at a population level towards both the main pelagic prey, indicating a narrow trophic niche. Novel data are provided which contribute to the growing body of information in relation to the age-0+ year transitional stage in demersal fishes and particularly to M. hubbsi recruitment in the Argentine Sea.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNMdP), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Mar del Plata, Argentina; Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP), Paseo Victoria Ocampo No. 1, B7602HSA, Mar del Plata, Argentina.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Temperoni
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Viñas
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Buratti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D020387:Food Chain; D048388:Gadiformes / Q000502:physiology*; D005766:Gastrointestinal Contents; D008954:Models, Biological
keywords: Argentine Sea; diet; feeding behaviour; nursery area; stomach contents