ABSTRACT
Among the most common statements made in studies of elasmobranch ecology is something to the effect that “sharks play an important role in marine ecosystems.” Although there have been few conclusive demonstrations of this role, it is widely recognized that sharks and batoids are major participants in the transfer of energy from lower to upper trophic levels within marine ecosystems (see Heithaus et al., 2010, for a review). However, our understanding of the dynamics of prey consumption and processing of food in elasmobranchs remains rudimentary. To fully comprehend energy ow through elasmobranchs in marine communities it is necessary to know not only what they eat but also the rates at which they ingest, digest, and process energy and nutrients contained in the prey consumed. As with other areas of elasmobranch biology, investigations on the dynamics of feeding and processing food lag behind similar studies on other marine shes and vertebrates despite the large amount of interest in sharks as predators. By far the most common elasmobranch feeding studies are
simple descriptions of stomach contents for a particular species in a particular location. Rate of consumption, feeding patterns, and the fate of food once ingested, as well as other aspects of feeding ecology and digestive physiology, have been examined for very few species of elasmobranchs.
