Daily ration and population food consumption of juvenile and adult searobin Prionotus punctatus (54-314 mm total length) were estimated for the southeastern Brazilian shelf off Ubatuba (23°35'S, 45°00'W). Samples were collected during 24hour-tisheries in three periods during 1987/88. P. puctatus is a diurnal invertebrate feeder, its maximum stomach fullness occurred during the afternoon. Instantaneous gastric evacuation rates were estimated from the data, and daily ration was subsequently

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... ed for total food intake, as well as the dominant prey items, comparing the results off three widely-used methods. The total daily ration for juveniles (total length< 150 mm, average mass 15 g) was estimated at 11.6% body wet mass in January 1987 (summer). The daily ration for adults ranged from 2.7-3.4% body wet mass in winter July 1988 (average body mass 80.6 g), and from 3.1-4.1 % body wet mass in summer December 1988 (average body mass 110.0 g). The mean food consumption rate of the population was estimated at about 17 year-I, corresponding to a gross efficiency of 7.3%.