taxonID	type	description	language	source
03F1353F8B5AFF8F03DBC4EEFB87FEF2.taxon	description	The most common taxa were decapod crustaceans (57.2 % IRI), followed by polychaetes (18.2 % IRI). Teleost fish appear with only 0.5 % IRI. Within the decapod prey group, Pachygrapsus marmoratus (Fabricius, 1787) accounted for 53 % by weight, Scyllaridae for 13 % and unidentified species for 34 %.	en	Ponte, Dário, Barcelos, Luís M. D., Santos, Cristina, Medeiros, João, Barreiros, João P. (2016): Diet of Dasyatis pastinaca and Myliobatis aquila (Myliobatiformes) from the Azores, NE Atlantic. Cybium 40 (3): 209-214, DOI: 10.26028/cybium/2016-403-003, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.26028/cybium/2016-403-003
03F1353F8B5AFF8F0072C62BFB97FD52.taxon	description	A total of 371 prey items were found, belonging to two major groups (Mollusca and Crustacea), from which six were identified to species level (Tab. II). The species with higher % IRI and % MFI is Calliostoma lusitanicum Nordsieck & García-Talavera, 1979 with 53.9 and 62.7, respectively, followed by Stramonita haemastoma (Linnaeus, 1767) with 26.7 and 23.8, respectively.	en	Ponte, Dário, Barcelos, Luís M. D., Santos, Cristina, Medeiros, João, Barreiros, João P. (2016): Diet of Dasyatis pastinaca and Myliobatis aquila (Myliobatiformes) from the Azores, NE Atlantic. Cybium 40 (3): 209-214, DOI: 10.26028/cybium/2016-403-003, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.26028/cybium/2016-403-003
03F1353F8B5BFF8E03DBC3E6FC72FAEF.taxon	description	Our results agree with those from other studies (Ismen, 2003; Yeldan et al., 2009), that also found crustaceans being the dominant group in the diet of D. pastinaca. In the above author studies, fish came in second, but in our study this group came lastly. When comparing the mean size (TL) of our reduced sample to the figures obtained by Ismen (2003) and Yeldan et al. (2009), the mean size of our sample, 334.8 mm, is considerably smaller than that reported by these authors (522.5 and 602.5 mm, respectively). This difference is certainly due to the small size of our sampled specimens, probably because they were collected in shallow water, when compared with the ones from those studies. In the above author works, respectively 256 and 346 specimens were available when compared to our small number (23). As said before, stingrays are not actively fished in the Azores and the only specimens available are those that are possible to collect by spearfishing.	en	Ponte, Dário, Barcelos, Luís M. D., Santos, Cristina, Medeiros, João, Barreiros, João P. (2016): Diet of Dasyatis pastinaca and Myliobatis aquila (Myliobatiformes) from the Azores, NE Atlantic. Cybium 40 (3): 209-214, DOI: 10.26028/cybium/2016-403-003, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.26028/cybium/2016-403-003
03F1353F8B5BFF890072C226FDA2FB0B.taxon	description	We have similar results: molluscs play a major role in the feeding of the species, but we found gastropods in the stomach contents while bivalves were completely absent. In the secondary group of prey, instead of sipunculids as found by Jardas et al. (2004), we found crustaceans, mostly from the hermit-crab family Diogenidae. This led us to think that the eagle ray, a mollusc feeder, searches for the shells, something that could help explain the occurrence of hermit crabs in the stomachs. This particular aspect surely deserves additional studies, including visual monitoring of M. aquila while feeding. Jardas et al. (2004) refer to other prey groups (Polychaetae, Nemertinae and teleost fish) with a small importance in the diet. We did not find any of these groups in our sample. The extensive work by Jacobsen and Bennett (2013) also reports decapod crustaceans and teleost fish as major prey items of stingrays. However, it would be speculative to compare our small sample from two species with the vast guild studied by these authors. Low weights of Pachygrapsus marmoratus are most certainly due to the fact that only small specimens, or even just parts of these crabs, were found in the stomachs. A fact that explains the apparent contrast with the comparative high weight of large amphipods. This study is a first evaluation of the feeding ecology for these two species for the NE Atlantic and in fact outside the Mediterranean basin. Although the number of sampled stomachs was not high enough for a more conclusive evaluation of the diet of Dasyatis pastinaca together with a high VI value, our results are in agreement with the other few studies made for this species. Concerning Myliobatis aquila, despite the most important group of prey being the same (with the exception given by the absence of polychaetes and the above discussed presence of hermit-crabs), there are differences in the feeding ecology of this species between Mediterranean and Atlantic populations. The different niches occupied by our target species reflect their different diets clearly, show- ing D. pastinaca as a crustacean predator and M. aquila with an apparent preference for molluscs and worms. Acknowledgments. – We which to thank François Chauvin for collecting all specimens and for his work in the laboratory while on a post-graduation program in the Azores University.	en	Ponte, Dário, Barcelos, Luís M. D., Santos, Cristina, Medeiros, João, Barreiros, João P. (2016): Diet of Dasyatis pastinaca and Myliobatis aquila (Myliobatiformes) from the Azores, NE Atlantic. Cybium 40 (3): 209-214, DOI: 10.26028/cybium/2016-403-003, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.26028/cybium/2016-403-003
