Diet and potential feeding overlap between Trichiurus lepturus (Osteichthyes: Perciformes) and Pontoporia blainvillei (Mammalia: Cetacea) in Northern Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

This study describes the diet and assesses potential overlap in the feeding habits of Trichiurus lepturus Linnaeus, 1758 and Pontoporia blainvilleiGervais & D'Orbigny, 1844 in northern Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil. Fishes were numerically dominant in both diets, followed by cephalopods for P. blainvillei and crustaceans for T. lepturus. Both predators move along similar coastal feeding areas in northern Rio de Janeiro, but our results indicate differences in their resource exploitation, what allows for their coexistence.

Keywords

• Cannibalism
• diet
• feeding
• food habits
• predators