Stomach contents of by-caught striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Stomach contents of six striped dolphins taken as by-catch in the swordfish fishery in the eastern Mediterranean Sea off the Turkish coast were examined. In total, 29 taxa were identified to species or family and 1777 individual food items (1394 bony fishes, 289 cephalopods, 94 crustaceans) were counted. Diaphus spp. and Ceratoscopelus maderensis were the most remarkable ones, as they accounted for 70.45% of the total number of fishes. Onychoteuthis banksii, on the other hand, was the only cephalopod species found in all stomach content analyses and represented 38.06% of the total number of cephalopods. Bony fish species: Myctophum punctatum, Notoscopelus elongatus, Electrona risso, Sudis hyalina, Moridae sp., Phycidae sp., Sternoptychidae sp. and cephalopods: Pterygioteuthis giardi and Chtenopteryx sicula were reported the first time in the stomach contents of striped dolphin in the Mediterranean Sea.