Unusual presence of Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus, 1758 (Perciformes: Coryphaenidae) under an offshore oil platform in Southern Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Sinopoli, Mauro
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Battaglia, Pietro, Barreiros, João P.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/4479
• topic: Feeding Habits; Offshore Oil Platforms; Pelagic Prophic Chains; Ictiologia; Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To study the food habits of a sample of the dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) around the Petrobrás PXIV oil platform located off Southern Brazil. Methods: We examined the stomach contents of 28 adult dolphinfish caught around this platform between 2000 and 2001. RESULTS: Results highlighted a diet consisting mainly of pelagic fish, although cephalopods and crustaceans are also present. A large amount of clupeids found in the stomachs could be due to baits used by fishermen that do fish around the platform. CONCLUSIONS: In this research we discuss the possibility of this occurrence being related to trophic opportunistic behavior. This could be a reason why adult dolphinfish are attracted by this platform since the whole structure does act as a fish aggregating device.