Diet of the Deep-Sea Shark Galeus melastomus Rafinesque, 1810, in the Mediterranean Sea: What We Know and What We Should Know

Claudio D’Iglio, Serena Savoca, Paola Rinelli, Nunziacarla Spanò and Gioele Capillo
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Claudio D’Iglio: Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale F. Stagno d’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
Serena Savoca: Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Viale F. Stagno d’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
Paola Rinelli: Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology (IRBIM), National Research Council, Spianata S. Raineri 86, 98122 Messina, Italy
Nunziacarla Spanò: Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology (IRBIM), National Research Council, Spianata S. Raineri 86, 98122 Messina, Italy
Gioele Capillo: Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology (IRBIM), National Research Council, Spianata S. Raineri 86, 98122 Messina, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: We reviewed literature on the diet of the Galeus melastomus Rafinesque, 1810, from the Mediterranean Sea. Specific keywords (“ Galeus melastomus diet”, “feeding habits”, “trophic position”, “biology”, “deep environment adaptation”) in the principal data sources, such as Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar were used. Seventeen studies conducted on the diet and trophic position of G. melastomus have been considered for Mediterranean Sea regions. The feeding habits have been analyzed in many areas of the western basin; instead, for the Tyrrhenian, Adriatic, and central Mediterranean Seas, information is outdated and fragmentary. In all investigated sub areas, the data showed that G. melastomus is an opportunistic demersal supra benthic predator, benthic feeder, and scavenger, that adapts its diet to the seasonal and geographical fluctuations of the prey availability. It occupies a generalist niche showing individual specialization. In all reviewed Mediterranean sub areas, the most important prey groups were crustaceans, cephalopods, and teleost fishes. Taxa percentage in its diet composition can vary depending on different habitats with ontogenetic development of individuals, depth (that is correlated with the ontogenetic development), seasonal availability, and distribution of different prey groups. Widening knowledge of G. melastomus feeding habits is a fundamental tool for better understand meso and bathy-pelagic ecosystems.

Keywords: conservation; shark; feeding habit; black mouth catshark (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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