Trophic Interactions of European Hake Merluccius merluccius (Linnaeus, 1758) in Benthic Communities off the Moroccan Mediterranean Coastline: Seasonal and Ontogenetic Shifts
Table 2
Diet composition in the five hake size classes sampled in 2020–2022.
Length classes
Season
I
II
III
IV
V
Autumn
Summer
Vacuity index (%VI)
6.98
20.35
23.8
28.5
20.4
43.3
43.1
Bi
0.71
0.45
0.31
0.33
0.31
0.29
0.26
H′
1.65
2.17
2.19
2.22
1.82
2.4
2.1
Cephalopoda
—
—
0.49
0.04
—
0.22
—
Crustacea
0.23
35.11
18.27
3.65
7.08
6.97
16.28
Euphausiacea and Mysidacea
98.96
2.89
0.00
—
—
1.12
0.07
Demersal Osteichthyes
—
0.14
0.04
0.65
4.42
4.05
—
Pelagic Osteichthyes
—
6.87
19.00
88.22
86.45
0.51
67.53
Mesopelagic Osteichthyes
0.48
28.30
59.24
6.24
0.24
1.13
10.01
Unid. Osteichthyes
—
26.69
2.96
1.20
1.81
86.01
6.08
Polychaeta
0.33
—
—
—
—
—
0.03
In the column are reported the vacuity index (%VI), Levin’s dietary niche breadth index Bi, and the Shannon–Weaver index H′ and IRI% values for each prey category.
