DOI: 10.2478/cjf-2024-0015
Original scientific paper
DIET COMPOSITION OF PAINTED COMBER, SEARRANUS SCRIBA (LINNAEUS, 1758) IN THE EASTERN-CENTRAL ADRIATIC SEA
2024, 82 (3) p. 121-128
Mate Šantić, Biljana Apostolska
Abstract
The diet composition of painted comber, Serranus scriba, in the eastern central Adriatic Sea was studied. Stomach contents of 275 individuals with total length (TL) between 10.8 and 24.1 cm, collected by small beach seine, from January to December 2017, were analysed. Food items in stomachs belonged to seven prey groups: Gastropoda, Bivalvia, Polychaeta, Decapoda, Isopoda, Stomatopoda and Teleostei. Overall, decapods were the most important prey group (%IRI = 54.0) followed by teleosts (%IRI = 40.4%). All other prey groups had much lower %IRI values and thus were of less importance. Painted comber had a diverse diet, feeding on higher number of prey items (H' = 3.11) and can be considered as opportunistic feeder whose diet in the Adriatic Sea consists of a different group of benthic organisms, with wide range of prey sizes and morphology.