The feeding habits of Spanish mackerel, Scomberomorus niphonius, were investigated using 853 specimens collected by two-boat trawl, stow net, gill net and set net from January to December 2019 from the South Sea of Korea. The size of the specimens ran...
The feeding habits of Spanish mackerel, Scomberomorus niphonius, were investigated using 853 specimens collected by two-boat trawl, stow net, gill net and set net from January to December 2019 from the South Sea of Korea. The size of the specimens ranged from 25.2 to 114.8 cm in fork length. S. niphonius fed mostly on fish. Its diets also included small quantities of shrimps, cephalopods, crabs, stomatopods, etc. Among the 12 fish families, E. japonicus was the dominant species. The trophic level of S. niphonius on this study is 4.18. The dietary composition of S. niphonius exhibited significant differences based on their size and season. The proportion of Trichiurus japonicus increased as body size of S. niphonius increased, whereas the proportion of Engraulis japonicus decreased gradually. As the body size of S. niphonius increased, the mean weight of prey per the stomach (mW/ST) tended to increase significantly (one-way ANOVA, P<0.05). E. japonicus was annually feeded and dominant species in summer and winter. However the proportion of E. japonicus was lowest in autumn, Larimichthys polyactis was the dominant species in autumn instead.