Abstract
The róbalo, Eleginops maclovinus, a protandrous hermaphrodite species, is an important component of the ichthyofauna in the coastal areas and estuaries of southern Chile. However, there are many aspects about its life history that are unknown. Three hundred and eighty-three specimens of E. maclovinus (19–79 cm total length, TL) were collected between November 2002 and December 2003 from central-southern Chile. Marginal increment analysis from sagittal otoliths showed a single annual minimum in March, demonstrating that a single growth ring is formed each year. The growth of E. maclovinus was described by the von Bertalanffy growth model by following parameters: L ∞ = 105.4 cm TL, K = 0.08 per year, and t 0 = −1.03 years. E. maclovinus can live for 10 years. The length and age at which the 50% of the males in the population transformed into females was estimated at ~36 cm TL and ~5-years old. A total of 27 prey items were identified. The most important prey items were the crustaceans Hemigrapsus crenulatus and Emerita analoga associated with estuarial and marine habitats respectively. Ontogenetic changes in the diet were related to the spatial distributional pattern of males (1–4 years old, in the estuary) and females (5–8 years old, in the sea). Also, diet changes are associated with the type of available prey in each habitat occupied, indicating a generalized opportunist strategy.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Pablo Santibáñez for his valuable cooperation in fieldwork. We would also like to thank Gabriel Törnval for his help with age studies and also Dr. Humberto Gonzáles (UACH) for providing us with a laboratory. Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Paul Brickle, Rebecca van Someren and two anonymous referees who helped to improve this paper.
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Licandeo, R.R., Barrientos, C.A. & González, M.T. Age, Growth Rates, Sex Change and Feeding Habits of Notothenioid Fish Eleginops Maclovinus from the Central-southern Chilean Coast. Environ Biol Fish 77, 51–61 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-006-9054-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-006-9054-z