Determination of White cheek shark Carcharhinus dussumieri (Müller & Henle, 1839) feeding habitat in Hormozgan waters, Persian Gulf

The present study aimed at investigating the diet of white cheek shark¡ Carcharhinus. dussumieri¡ in order to determine its feeding preferences in Hormozgan waters¡ Persian Gulf. Overall¡ stomach contents of 360 shark were sampled including female (n=169) and male (n=191). The content of 360 white cheek sharks including 169 female and 191 male¡ which were caught using trawl and gill net during 18 months from December 2013 to May 2015¡ were examined. Diet of Whitecheek shark¡ with the length range of 41-98 and weight range of 500-5100 gr.¡ was described using the numeric¡ frequency¡ weight methods and the index of relative importance index (IRI). Two hundred fifty two stomachs contained food items and small teleost fish were found in the majority of full stomachs. Results indicated that C. dussumieri fed on a wide variety of teleost species¡ primarily Engraulidae¡ Synodontidae¡ Nemipteridae with occasional crustacean and cephalopod prey. There was a significant difference in diets of males and females shark samples. The average prey content in the stomach was 1.59±0.84 and 1.51±0.81 for male and female¡ respectively. In addition¡ trophic level was calculated 4.4. A shift in diets of maturing¡ immature and mature males and females deemed to be an evidence that C. dussumieri experiences an ontogenetic feeding diet shift.