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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 61(4)

Trophodynamic effects of trawling on the feeding ecology of pandora, Pagellus erythrinus, off the northern Sicily coast (Mediterranean Sea)

E. Fanelli A B C , F. Badalamenti B , G. D’Anna B , C. Pipitone B and C. Romano B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Institut de Ciencies del Mar – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta 37–49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.

B CNR–IAMC, Via Giovanni da Verazzano 17, 91014, Castellammare del Golfo (TP), Italy.

C Corresponding author. Email: efanelli@icm.csic.es

Marine and Freshwater Research 61(4) 408-417 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF09049
Submitted: 7 March 2009  Accepted: 3 September 2009   Published: 27 April 2010

Abstract

Because trawling disturbs benthic organisms, it could affect the diet of benthic-feeding fish with implications for food-web dynamics. The present study assessed the effects of commercial trawling on the trophodynamics and diet of pandora, Pagellus erythrinus, by comparing its stomach contents and stable-isotope (δ15N and δ13C) composition in two trawled and two untrawled gulfs in northern Sicily (central Mediterranean). Fish were collected on muddy bottoms at 50–100-m depth. Higher abundance and biomass and a slightly larger mean body length were found in the untrawled gulfs. The feeding habits were similar although more selective in the untrawled gulfs. The diet was mainly composed of decapod crustaceans (especially the brachyuran crab Goneplax rhomboides) and of polychaetes. The trophic level of pandora, estimated by its δ15N values, was higher in the untrawled gulfs. No clear trend between trawled and untrawled gulfs was found for the source of carbon in the diet (δ13C). The diet of a benthic feeder such as pandora may be used as an indirect indicator of trawling disturbance, as long as stomach contents and stable-isotope analysis are used jointly to assess the diet and trophodynamics of a species.

Additional keywords: benthic communities, diet, fishing effect, Pagellus erythrinus, stable isotopes, trophodynamics.


Acknowledgements

Samples from GCAST and GPATT analysed in this study were collected with permission of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Project No. 6A84/2003). The authors thank all the participants in field work and all the staff at CNR–IAMC of Castellammare del Golfo, particularly Mr E. Riginella, who helped us with stomach-content analysis. Special thanks go to Drs P. Rumolo (CNR–IAMC, Naples, IT), C. Sweeting (CEFAS, Newcastle, UK) and S. Vizzini (University of Palermo, IT) for their help with isotope analysis, to Dr E. Azzurro for graphics assistance and to Ms H. Main for revising the English. We also acknowledge two anonymous referees who greatly improved the original version of the manuscript. The first author was funded by a CNR–IAMC pre-doctoral fellowship.


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