Sinopoli, M., Battaglia, P. & Barreiros, J.P. (2017) Unusual presence of Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus, 1758 (Perciformes: Coryphaenidae) under an offshore oil platform in Southern Brazil. Journal of Coastal Life Medicine, 5(6), 239-241. DOI: 10.12980/jclm.5.2017J7-48.
Objective: To study the food habits of a sample of the dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) around the Petrobrás PXIV oil platform located off Southern Brazil.
Methods: We examined the stomach contents of 28 adult dolphinfish caught around this platform between 2000 and 2001.
Results: Results highlighted a diet consisting mainly of pelagic fish, although cephalopods and crustaceans are also present. A large amount of clupeids found in the stomachs could be due to baits used by fishermen that do fish around the platform.
Conclusions: In this research we discuss the possibility of this occurrence being related to trophic opportunistic behavior. This could be a reason why adult dolphinfish are attracted by this platform since the whole structure does act as a fish aggregating device.