Feeding habits of Cataetyx alleni (Pisces: Bythitidae) in the deep western Mediterranean

Abstract

This study examines the feeding habits of Cataetyx alleni, the fifth most abundant species below 1000 m depth on the deep slope of the Catalan sea (western Mediterranean), between 1000 and 1800 m depth. Cataetyx alleni is a curyphagic predator, feeding on small epibenthic and endobenthic crustaceans and polychaetes. Predominate prey are small isopods and gammaridean amphipods and, in some cases, endobenthic and epibenthic decapods. Cataetyx alleni has bathymetric changes in diet marked by the capture of different prey-items and also by the reduction in the size of the prey with increasing depth. Seasonal fluctuations in the feeding pattern are clearly seen among the individuals of the same depths.