Abstract
The diet composition of painted comber Serranus scriba was studied in the eastern central Adriatic Sea. The stomach contents of 275 individuals with a total length (TL) between 10.8 and 24.1 cm, collected by a small beach seine from January to December 2017, were analyzed. The food items in stomachs belonged to seven prey groups: Gastropoda, Bivalvia, Polychaeta, Decapoda, Isopoda, Stomatopoda and Teleostei. Overall, decapods were the most important prey group (%IRI = 54.0), followed by teleosts (%IRI = 40.4%). All other prey groups had much lower %IRI values and thus were of less importance. Painted comber had a diverse diet, feeding on a higher number of prey items (H’ = 3.11), and can be considered an opportunistic feeder whose diet in the Adriatic Sea consists of different groups of benthic organisms, with a wide range of prey sizes and morphology. For fish of small and medium size (up to 20 cm TL), decapods were the most important prey, whereas large-sized individuals (> 20 cm TL) mainly consumed teleosts. Decapods were the most important prey in spring, summer and autumn, whereas teleosts dominated in winter.