Investigation of Ecological Relationships among Some Economical Species in the Oman Sea Using Ecopath Model
Investigation of Ecological Relationships among Some Economical Species in the Oman Sea Using Ecopath Model
Mastooreh Doustdar1*, Seyed Ahmed Reza Hashemi2, Asadullah Ali Muhammad3 and Maryam Forouzad1
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to provide a model for evaluating and managing some economical important species based on the Oman Sea ecosystem and to examine nutritional relationships among five economical species, including Saurida tumbil, Sphyraena jello, Acanthopagrus arabicus, Rastrelliger kanagurta, Trichiurus lepturus in the Oman Sea waters located in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. A total of 1065 fishes was randomly collected from fishing evacuation areas and fish market from April 2020 to May 2021, and examined in terms of nutritional and stomach contents. Nutritional Model of the species in the Oman Sea was presented using Ecopath Software ver 6.6, and based on aquatic species of the region. The results showed that trophic levels of the species studied varied from 2.8 to 4.6, which lowest rate of it is related to Rastrelliger kanagurta, and the highest rate of in to Trichiurus lepturus, among the species studied that placed at the top of food chain, and mean of trophic level 3.9 was estimated that indicates fishing pressure on the existing species at the bottom of food pyramid. System omnivory index was calculated too that showed that predators of ecosystem feed on a wide range of prey and focus on a diverse number of prey items. Connectivity index obtained in this study was 0.18, indicates possibility of relationship between connecting paths and groups, indicating the richness of species in the Oman Sea.
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