Diet composition of round sardinella (Sardinella aurita) and flat sardinella (Sardinella maderensis) in the south of Atlantic Moroccan coast

The feeding of round sardinella (Sardinella aurita Valenciennes, 1847) and flat sardinella (Sardinella maderensis Lowe, 1938) was investigated in the south of the Moroccan Atlantic coast from February 2015 to January 2016. Several indices were estimated to figure out the diet composition of Sardinella spp. Thusly; the vacuity index was low for both species, which indicates a high availability of food in the study area. The crustaceans were the main prey headed by the copepods which were the most abundant prey item throughout the year whereas the detritus was mainly present in winter and spring. The variation of the index of relative importance (IRI) depending on the size of Sardinella spp. has shown that small individuals have a different dietary preference than large individuals. The results provide a baseline for resource managers to evaluate and predict differences in feeding ecology, which could be useful in the management of the fishery of these species.