Prey selection by flounder, Platichthys flesus, in the Douro estuary, Portugal

Prey selection by the flounder, Platichthys flesus (Linnaeus, 1758), in an estuarine nursery was investigated and the major factors influencing food choice by this species were assessed. Diet breadth was narrow, reflecting the low prey diversity observed in the benthos. A gradual ontogenetic shift from small prey such as amphipods to larger prey like polychaetes and bivalves was observed. Amphipods had positive electivity values in the upper estuary and negative values in the lower estuary.Polychaetes showed the inverse pattern. Bivalve electivity values were always positive. Differential selectivity throughout the estuary was mainly related to spatial segregation of flounders according to size, with the smaller individuals concentrating in the upper estuary and larger individuals concentrating in the lower estuary. Amphipods such as Corophium spp. play a crucial role in the flounder diet because of their small size, low mobility and diel activity pattern. As prey, the polychaete value increases throughout flounder ontogeny since the flounder size range is compatible with the larger mouth gapes and detection ability of larger fish. Bivalve electivity values for flounder are mainly related to high calorific values. The absence of Crangon crangon (Linnaeus, 1758) in the diet may be due to low water temperature since the cost-benefit involved in the capture of highly mobile prey is too high at low temperatures. It was concluded that flounder must use several sensory features to detect and capture prey in turbid estuarine waters and that field studies provide important background information on the actual predator preferences under natural conditions.