Seasonal variation in the diet of Big-Scale Sand Smelt Atherina boyeri from the coast of Candarli Bay (North Aegean Sea, Turkey)

A total of 1492 specimens of sand smelt. Atherina boyeri, was collected from the coasts of Candarl1 Bay (North Aegean Sea, Turkey) during 2007-2008, to determine their stomach content compositions. Of the 460 stomachs examined, 258 (56.1%) were found with prey items. Zooplanktonic organisms were the main prey items in terms of abundance for the autumn and summer seasons. The most dominant species in the diet was Euterpina acutifrons, 87% numerical occurrence (NO) and 18% frequency of occurrence (FO), followed by Cypris larvae (1.25% NO, 4.29% FO) and unidentified tissue items (3.56% FO). Observations during the winter period did not allow identifying preys. Our results give support to the idea that the sand smelt is an opportunistic predator, mostly consuming small cnistaceans during sampling period.