Diet composition of the Morocco dentex: Dentex maroccanus Valenciennes, 1830 (Teleostei: Sparidae) in the central Turkish Aegean Sea

This study examined the stomach contents of 230 individuals out of 439 samples obtained from commercial fishermen between January 2013 and March 2014 from a trawler using trawl bags with a full cod-end mesh size of 44 mm.

It was found that 216 samples were full and the stomach fullness index was estimated at 93.9%. The varying diet composition of the species was determined by estimating the percentage numerical composition (N%), frequency of occurrence (F%), gravimetric composition (W%) and the index of relative importance (IRI%). Diversity (Shannon index), richness (Margalef index) and similarity (Bray-Curtis index) of the catches in different seasons were calculated using the Biodiversity Professional (Version 2) software.

Three major groups were identified in the catches: Crustacea, Mollusca and Teleostei. At least 17 different prey groups were identified. With regard to the diversity of consumed prey, the winter (1.204), autumn (1.079) and spring (1.000) seasons were characterized by a medium level of diversity, summer (0.699) – by a low level of diversity. However, the richness of prey does not show seasonal differences. As indicated by the Bray-Curtis index, the highest similarity between the prey groups was observed between the autumn and winter seasons, at 81.61%.