Environmental conditions, early life stages distributions and larval feeding of patagonian sprat Sprattus fuegensis and common sardine Strangomera bentincki in fjords and channels of the northern Chilean patagonia

We assessed ontogenetic changes in distribution and feeding of the Patagonian sprat Sprattus fuegensis and common sardine Strangomera bentincki, and their association with environmental characteristics (hydrography, larval food, gelatinous zooplankton predators), and actual feeding from inshore to offshore areas of the Chilean Patagonia. During the springs of 2007 and 2008, S. bentincki egg and larvae were present north of the Taitao Peninsula (47°S) and S. fuegensis was found to the south of the peninsula. Along the inshore–offshore axis, distributions also differed: while eggs and early larval stages of S. bentincki occurred inshore and seawards, larger larvae occurred mostly seawards. The opposite was observed in S. fuegensis. However, distributions of both species followed the same rule, determined by the size of their prey: eggs and early larval stages occurred in areas of higher abundance of small prey sizes, and larger larvae coincided with the highest abundances of larger prey sizes. No relationship was detected between potential gelatinous predators and the egg and larval distributions of both fish species. Mean ingested prey sizes in both species increased as larvae grew, while maintaining the capacity to feed on small sized items. This ontogenetic feeding pattern and the distributions linked to prey seem to be beneficial in order to take advantage of short term food pulses and to overcome the strong changes in environmental conditions east to west from fjords to open waters.