Feeding ecology of the short-headed lanternfish Diaphus brachycephalus and Warming's lanternfish Ceratoscopelus warmingii (Myctophidae) in the South China Sea

We report on the feeding ecology of two species, the short-headed lanternfish Diaphus brachycephalus and Warming's lanternfish Ceratoscopelus warmingii, using data collected over five surveys from 2015 to 2017 in the open South China Sea. D. brachycephalus feed mainly on copepods, with few differences in food composition between different-sized individuals; the diet of C. warmingii is more diverse, including crustacean zooplankton, gelatinous animals, and Mollusca, and differs significantly between fishes >55 mm in body length and smaller fishes. Interspecific competition for food between these two species is not strong, while intraspecific competition may be more intense in D. brachycephalus than in C. warmingii. Trophic levels of D. brachycephalus (3.46) and C. warmingii (3.38) identify both species as third-trophic-level lower carnivores. The diel feeding patterns of D. brachycephalus and C. warmingii differ: the former feeds actively both day and night when food is plentiful, and feeds primarily in the upper layer at night and in the mesopelagic layer during the daytime, and the latter ascends into the upper 100 m at night to feed, but stomach fullness is lower than D. brachycephalus. Dry-body-weight daily ration estimates for D. brachycephalus range from 5.19% to 16.46%, and those for C. warmingii range from 1.38% to 4.39%.