DIET OF THE BLUE MARLIN (Makaira nigricans) (PERCIFORMES: ISTIOPHORIDAE) OF THE SOUTHWESTERN EQUATORIAL ATLANTIC OCEAN

Diet composition of the blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, from the southwestern equatorial Atlantic Ocean was analyzed between October 2004 and November 2005. In the 226 stomachs of fishes ranging between 100 and 311 cm lower jaw fork length (LJFL), 44 items were identified, including 31 fishes and 13 cephalopods. Seventy stomachs were empty (23.6 %). M. nigricans fed preferentially on heavy and muscular scombrid fishes especially upon the skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, probably to sustain their high metabolism, and on a variety of other items composed mainly by epipelagic species of fish and cephalopods