Dolphin interactions with the mullet artisanal fishing on Southern Brazil: a qualitative and quantitative approach

Simões-Lopes, Paulo C.; Fabián, Marta E.; Menegheti, João O.

doi:10.1590/S0101-81751998000300016

Abstract

A detailed analysis of the interactions between Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821) and the artisanal fishing of mullets (Mugil spp.) is presented at two localities in the south of Brazil: Laguna (Santa Catarina) and Inibé/Tramandaí (Rio Grande do Sul). Its behavioral strategies and the advantages of their association are re-described and quantified based on the success of the capture and on the selectivity of the prey sizes. The mullets are the main resource involved (92% to 75%) both at numerical level and as biomass. Twenty individuals of Tursiops truncatus participated in the interactions in Laguna and 9 in Imbé/Tramandaí. The participation and learning of calves is also reported.

Cetacea; Delphinidae; Tursiops truncatus; ecology; behavior; artisanal fishery

Dolphin interactions with the mullet artisanal fishing on Southern Brazil: a qualitative and quantitative approach

Paulo C. Simões-Lopes^I; Marta E. Fabián^II; João O. Menegheti^II

^IDepartamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Caixa Postal 5102, 88040-970 Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil

^IIDepartamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. 90046-900 Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

ABSTRACT

A detailed analysis of the interactions between Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821) and the artisanal fishing of mullets (Mugil spp.) is presented at two localities in the south of Brazil: Laguna (Santa Catarina) and Inibé/Tramandaí (Rio Grande do Sul). Its behavioral strategies and the advantages of their association are re-described and quantified based on the success of the capture and on the selectivity of the prey sizes. The mullets are the main resource involved (92% to 75%) both at numerical level and as biomass. Twenty individuals of Tursiops truncatus participated in the interactions in Laguna and 9 in Imbé/Tramandaí. The participation and learning of calves is also reported.

Key words: Cetacea, Delphinidae, Tursiops truncatus, ecology, behavior, artisanal fishery.

Full text available only in PDF format.

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We are grateful to Giselle de S. Paula, Jaqueline de Araujo, Karla Z. Scherer and M.C. Both for his invaluable assistance at the field. Drs. B. Würsig, L. von Fersen, N.B. Barros, K. Pryor, L.M. Herman, A.M. de Araujo, C.O. Diefenbach, M. Marmontel, and F.X. Pelletier kindly helped us with literature. The support of Barddal Fundation and of FAPERGS grant is greatly appreciated. We are indebted the fishermen of Laguna and Imbé who have contributed with many information and with your patience.

Recebido em 05.VI.1997; aceito em 03.VIII.1998.

ALTMANN, J. 1974. Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behaviour 48:227-267.
BARROS, N.B. & D.K. ODELLI. 1990. Food habits of Bottlenose Dolphins in the Southeastern United States, p. 309-328. In: S. LEATHERWOOD & R.R. REEVES (Eds). The Bottlenose Dolphin. San Diego, Acad. Press Inc., 653p.
BEGON, M.; J.L. HARPER & C.R. TOWNSEND. 1988. Ecologia: indivíduos, poblaciones y comunidades. Barcelona, Omega, XII+886p.
BEL'KOVICH, V.M.; E.E. IVANOVA; O.V. YEFREMENKOVA; L.B. KOZAROVITSKY & S.P. KHARITONOV. 1991. Searching and hunting behavior in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the Black Sea, p. 38-77. In: K. PRYOR & K.S. NORRIS (Eds). Dolphin Societies: Discoveries and Puzzles. Berkeley, Univ. California Press, 397p.
BOUCHER, D.H.; S. JAMES & K. KESLER. 1984. The ecology of mutualism. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Sist. 13:315-347.
BREDER, C.M. 1967. On the survival value offish schools. Zoologica 52 (4):25-40.
BUSNEL, R.G. 1973. Symbiotic relationship between man and dolphins. Trans. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 35 (2):112-131.
CALDWELL, D.K. & M.C. CALDWELL. 1972. The World of the Bottle-Nosed Dolphin. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 157p.
CATO, J.C. & F.J. PROSHASKA. 1976. Porpoise attacking hooked fish irk and injure Florida Fishermen. Natl. Fisherman. 56 (9):1-4.
CORKERON, P.J.; M.M. BRYDEN & K.E. HEDSTROM. 1990. Feeding by bottlenose dolphins in association with trawling operations in Moreton Bay, Australia, p. 329-336. In: S. LEATHERWOOD & R.R. REEVES (Eds). The Bottlenose Dolphin. San Diego, CA, Academic Press Inc., 653p.
FAIRHOLME, J.K.E. 1856. The blacks of Morenton Bay and the porpoises. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 24:353-354.
FELIX, F. 1994. Ecology of the coastal bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus in the Gulf of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Invest. Cetacea. 25:235-256.
GUNTER, G. 1942. Contributions to the natural history of the bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus (Montague), on the Texas coast, with particular reference to food habits. Jour. Mammal. 23 (3):267-276.
HAMILTON, P.V. & R.T. NISHIMOTO. 1977. Dolphin predation on mullet. Fl. Sci. 40 (3):251-252.
HOESE, H.D. 1971. Dolphin feeding out of water in a salt marsh. Jour. Mammal. 52:222-223.
IRVINE, A.B.; SCOTT, M.D.; WELLS R.S. & KAUFMAN, J.H. 1981. Movements and activities of the Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, near Sarasota, Florida. Fish. Bull. (US) 79:671-688.
KREBS, J.R. 1979. Foraging strategies and their social significance, p. 225-270. In: P. MARLER & J. VANDERBURGH (Eds). Handbook of behavioral Neurobiology, v. 3: Social behavior and communication. New York, Plenum Press, 412p.
KREBS, J.R. & N.B. DAVIES. 1987. An Introdution to Behavioural Ecology. London, Blackwell, 2^nd ed., IX+389p.
LAMB F.B. 1954. The fishermen's porpoise. Nat. Hist. 63 (5):231-232.
LEATHERWOOD, S. 1975. Some observations of feeding behavior of bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, in the northern Gulf of Mexico and Tursiops cf. t. gilli off southern California. Mar. Fish. Rev. 37 (9):10-16.
______. 1979. Aerial survey of the bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, and the west indian manatee, Trichechus manatus, in the Indian and Banana Rivers, Florida. Fish. Bull. 77 (1):47-59.
LEATHERWOOD, S. & R.R. REEVES. 1983. The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and dolphins. San Francisco, Sierra Club Books, 302p.
LOCKYER, C. 1990. Review of incidents involving wild, sociable dolphins, wordwide, p. 337-353. In: S. LEATHERWOOD & R.R. REEVES (Eds). The Bottlenose Dolphin. San Diego, Ac. Press Inc., 653p.
MAJOR, P.F. 1978. Predator-prey interactions in two schooling fishes, Caranx ignobilis and Stolephorus purpureus. Anim. Behav. 26:760-777.
MACARTHUR, R.H. & E.R. PIANKA. 1966. On optimal use of a patchy environment. Amer. Nat. 100:603-9.
NORRIS, K.S. & J.H. PRESCOTT. 1961. Observations on the Pacific cetaceans of California and Mexican waters. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. 63:291-402.
NORRIS, K.S. & T.P. DOHL. 1980. The structure and functions of cetacean schools, p. 211-261.7 In: R.J. SCHUSTERMAN; J.A. THOMAS & F.J. WOOD (Eds). Dolphin Cognition and Behavior: A Comparative Approach. London, Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. Publ., 393p.
PELLETIER, F.X. 1975. Symboise entre l'Amargi et le deuphin sur la côte Mauritanienne. L'Homme et l'Animal, Ler Colloq. Ethnozool., Inst. Int. Ethnosci. Paris, p. 171-176.
PIANKA, E.R. 1978. Evolutionary Ecology. New York, Harper & Row, Publ., XIII+397p.
PRYOR, K.; J. LINDBERGH; S. LINDBERGH & R. MILANO. 1990. A dolphin-human fishing cooperative in Brazil. Mar. Mamm. Sci. 6 (1):77-82.
RIGLEY, L. 1983. Dolphins feeding in a South Carolina salt marsh. Whalewatcher 17 (2):3-5.
SANTOS, M.E. DOS & M. LACERDA. 1987. Preliminary observations of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in Sado estuary (Portugal). Aquatic Mamm. 13 (2):65-80.
SCHLAIS, J.F. 1984. Thieving dolphins: a growing problem in Hawaii's fisheries. Sea Frontiers 30 (5):293-298.
SCHOENER, T.W. 1971. Theory of feeding strategies. Ann. Rev. Ecol. and Sistematics 2:369-404.
SHANE, S.H. 1990a. Behavior and ecology of the bottlenose dolphin at Sanibel Island, Florida, p. 245-265. In: S. LEATHERWOOD & R.R. REEVES (Eds). The Bottlenose Dolphin. San Diego, Acad. Press Inc., 653p.
SHANE, S.H. 1990b. Comparison of bottlenose dolphin behavior in Texas and Florida, with a critique of methods for study dolphin behavior, p. 245-265. In: S. LEATHERWOOD & R.R. REEVES (Eds). The Bottlenose Dolphin. San Diego, Acad. Press Inc., 653p.
SIMÕES-LOPES, P.C. 1991. Interaction of coastal populations of Tursiops truncatus (Cetacea, Delphinidae) with the mullet artisanal fisheries in Southern Brazil. Biotemas 4 (2):83-94.
SNEDECOR, G.W. & W.G. COCHRAN. 1967. Statistical Methods. Iowa, Iowa. Univ. Press, 6^th ed., 597p.
THEIN, U.T. 1977. The Burmese freshwater dolphin. Mammalia 41 (2):233-234.
TOMILIN, A.G. 1957. Mammals of the U.S.S.R. and adjacent Countries. Volume IX. Cetacea. Jerusalem, Israel Program for Scientific Translations, 717p.
WELLS, R.S.; A.B. IRVINE & M.D. SCOTT. 1980. The social ecology of inshore odontocetes, p. 263-317. In: L.M. HERMAN (Ed.). Cetacean Behavior: Mechanisms and Functions. New York, J. Wiley, 463p.
WILSON, E.O. 1975. Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, IX+697p.
ZAR, J.H. 1974. Biostatistical Analysis. New Jersey, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 2^nd ed., 620p.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
10 July 2009
Date of issue
1998

History

Accepted
03 Aug 1998
Received
05 June 1997

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

[1] ALTMANN, J. 1974. Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behaviour 48:227-267.

[2] BARROS, N.B. & D.K. ODELLI. 1990. Food habits of Bottlenose Dolphins in the Southeastern United States, p. 309-328. In: S. LEATHERWOOD & R.R. REEVES (Eds). The Bottlenose Dolphin. San Diego, Acad. Press Inc., 653p.

[3] BEGON, M.; J.L. HARPER & C.R. TOWNSEND. 1988. Ecologia: indivíduos, poblaciones y comunidades. Barcelona, Omega, XII+886p.

[4] BEL'KOVICH, V.M.; E.E. IVANOVA; O.V. YEFREMENKOVA; L.B. KOZAROVITSKY & S.P. KHARITONOV. 1991. Searching and hunting behavior in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in the Black Sea, p. 38-77. In: K. PRYOR & K.S. NORRIS (Eds). Dolphin Societies: Discoveries and Puzzles. Berkeley, Univ. California Press, 397p.

[5] BOUCHER, D.H.; S. JAMES & K. KESLER. 1984. The ecology of mutualism. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Sist. 13:315-347.

[6] BREDER, C.M. 1967. On the survival value offish schools. Zoologica 52 (4):25-40.

[7] BUSNEL, R.G. 1973. Symbiotic relationship between man and dolphins. Trans. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 35 (2):112-131.

[8] CALDWELL, D.K. & M.C. CALDWELL. 1972. The World of the Bottle-Nosed Dolphin. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 157p.

[9] CATO, J.C. & F.J. PROSHASKA. 1976. Porpoise attacking hooked fish irk and injure Florida Fishermen. Natl. Fisherman. 56 (9):1-4.

[10] CORKERON, P.J.; M.M. BRYDEN & K.E. HEDSTROM. 1990. Feeding by bottlenose dolphins in association with trawling operations in Moreton Bay, Australia, p. 329-336. In: S. LEATHERWOOD & R.R. REEVES (Eds). The Bottlenose Dolphin. San Diego, CA, Academic Press Inc., 653p.

[11] FAIRHOLME, J.K.E. 1856. The blacks of Morenton Bay and the porpoises. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 24:353-354.

[12] FELIX, F. 1994. Ecology of the coastal bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus in the Gulf of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Invest. Cetacea. 25:235-256.

[13] GUNTER, G. 1942. Contributions to the natural history of the bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus (Montague), on the Texas coast, with particular reference to food habits. Jour. Mammal. 23 (3):267-276.

[14] HAMILTON, P.V. & R.T. NISHIMOTO. 1977. Dolphin predation on mullet. Fl. Sci. 40 (3):251-252.

[15] HOESE, H.D. 1971. Dolphin feeding out of water in a salt marsh. Jour. Mammal. 52:222-223.

[16] IRVINE, A.B.; SCOTT, M.D.; WELLS R.S. & KAUFMAN, J.H. 1981. Movements and activities of the Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, near Sarasota, Florida. Fish. Bull. (US) 79:671-688.

[17] KREBS, J.R. 1979. Foraging strategies and their social significance, p. 225-270. In: P. MARLER & J. VANDERBURGH (Eds). Handbook of behavioral Neurobiology, v. 3: Social behavior and communication. New York, Plenum Press, 412p.

[18] KREBS, J.R. & N.B. DAVIES. 1987. An Introdution to Behavioural Ecology. London, Blackwell, 2^nd ed., IX+389p.

[19] LAMB F.B. 1954. The fishermen's porpoise. Nat. Hist. 63 (5):231-232.

[20] LEATHERWOOD, S. 1975. Some observations of feeding behavior of bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, in the northern Gulf of Mexico and Tursiops cf. t. gilli off southern California. Mar. Fish. Rev. 37 (9):10-16.

[21] ______. 1979. Aerial survey of the bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, and the west indian manatee, Trichechus manatus, in the Indian and Banana Rivers, Florida. Fish. Bull. 77 (1):47-59.

[22] LEATHERWOOD, S. & R.R. REEVES. 1983. The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and dolphins. San Francisco, Sierra Club Books, 302p.

[23] LOCKYER, C. 1990. Review of incidents involving wild, sociable dolphins, wordwide, p. 337-353. In: S. LEATHERWOOD & R.R. REEVES (Eds). The Bottlenose Dolphin. San Diego, Ac. Press Inc., 653p.

[24] MAJOR, P.F. 1978. Predator-prey interactions in two schooling fishes, Caranx ignobilis and Stolephorus purpureus. Anim. Behav. 26:760-777.

[25] MACARTHUR, R.H. & E.R. PIANKA. 1966. On optimal use of a patchy environment. Amer. Nat. 100:603-9.

[26] NORRIS, K.S. & J.H. PRESCOTT. 1961. Observations on the Pacific cetaceans of California and Mexican waters. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. 63:291-402.

[27] NORRIS, K.S. & T.P. DOHL. 1980. The structure and functions of cetacean schools, p. 211-261.7 In: R.J. SCHUSTERMAN; J.A. THOMAS & F.J. WOOD (Eds). Dolphin Cognition and Behavior: A Comparative Approach. London, Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. Publ., 393p.

[28] PELLETIER, F.X. 1975. Symboise entre l'Amargi et le deuphin sur la côte Mauritanienne. L'Homme et l'Animal, Ler Colloq. Ethnozool., Inst. Int. Ethnosci. Paris, p. 171-176.

[29] PIANKA, E.R. 1978. Evolutionary Ecology. New York, Harper & Row, Publ., XIII+397p.

[30] PRYOR, K.; J. LINDBERGH; S. LINDBERGH & R. MILANO. 1990. A dolphin-human fishing cooperative in Brazil. Mar. Mamm. Sci. 6 (1):77-82.

[31] RIGLEY, L. 1983. Dolphins feeding in a South Carolina salt marsh. Whalewatcher 17 (2):3-5.

[32] SANTOS, M.E. DOS & M. LACERDA. 1987. Preliminary observations of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in Sado estuary (Portugal). Aquatic Mamm. 13 (2):65-80.

[33] SCHLAIS, J.F. 1984. Thieving dolphins: a growing problem in Hawaii's fisheries. Sea Frontiers 30 (5):293-298.

[34] SCHOENER, T.W. 1971. Theory of feeding strategies. Ann. Rev. Ecol. and Sistematics 2:369-404.

[35] SHANE, S.H. 1990a. Behavior and ecology of the bottlenose dolphin at Sanibel Island, Florida, p. 245-265. In: S. LEATHERWOOD & R.R. REEVES (Eds). The Bottlenose Dolphin. San Diego, Acad. Press Inc., 653p.

[36] SHANE, S.H. 1990b. Comparison of bottlenose dolphin behavior in Texas and Florida, with a critique of methods for study dolphin behavior, p. 245-265. In: S. LEATHERWOOD & R.R. REEVES (Eds). The Bottlenose Dolphin. San Diego, Acad. Press Inc., 653p.

[37] SIMÕES-LOPES, P.C. 1991. Interaction of coastal populations of Tursiops truncatus (Cetacea, Delphinidae) with the mullet artisanal fisheries in Southern Brazil. Biotemas 4 (2):83-94.

[38] SNEDECOR, G.W. & W.G. COCHRAN. 1967. Statistical Methods. Iowa, Iowa. Univ. Press, 6^th ed., 597p.

[39] THEIN, U.T. 1977. The Burmese freshwater dolphin. Mammalia 41 (2):233-234.

[40] TOMILIN, A.G. 1957. Mammals of the U.S.S.R. and adjacent Countries. Volume IX. Cetacea. Jerusalem, Israel Program for Scientific Translations, 717p.

[41] WELLS, R.S.; A.B. IRVINE & M.D. SCOTT. 1980. The social ecology of inshore odontocetes, p. 263-317. In: L.M. HERMAN (Ed.). Cetacean Behavior: Mechanisms and Functions. New York, J. Wiley, 463p.

[42] WILSON, E.O. 1975. Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, IX+697p.

[43] ZAR, J.H. 1974. Biostatistical Analysis. New Jersey, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 2^nd ed., 620p.

Brasil

Brasil

Dolphin interactions with the mullet artisanal fishing on Southern Brazil: a qualitative and quantitative approach

Abstract

Publication Dates

History