Abstract

MARTINS, Rodrigo Silvestre  and  PEREZ, José Angel Alvarez. Cephalopods and fish attracted by night lights in coastal shallow-waters, off southern Brazil, with the description of squid and fish behavior. Rev. etol. [online]. 2006, vol.8, n.1, pp. 27-34. ISSN 1517-2805.

Squid and fish behaviour under light attraction were opportunistically registered during a study of the ecology of loliginid squid in shallow-waters, undertaken at ‘Pântano do Sul’ bight (27°47'18'' S; 48°31'07'' W), south of ‘Santa Catarina’ Island, southern Brazil, in three consecutive austral summers, between 1999 and 2001. Three species of squid (Loligo plei, L. sanpaulensis and Lolliguncula brevis) and 12 species of fish were attracted by the night-lights. Schools ofLoligo spp. squid were observed swimming in and out the lighted area. JuvenileL. plei and L. sanpaulensis were found to mix in a single school. L. brevis often remained under the lights, where they performed remarkable behaviors, which included agonistic body posture (‘flamboyant’) and mimicry of small clupeiform fish. Among fish, the cutlassfish (Trichiurus lepturus) presented an ambushing predatory behavior towards the schools of small clupeiform fish (anchovies, Anchoa spp. and sardines, Sardinella brasiliensis, Harengula clupeola) attracted by the night lights. An emphasis was given to the squid-fish interactions, which are described and discussed.

Keywords : Light attraction; Squid; Fish.

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