The feeding biology of bahia sprat (Rhinosardiniabahiensis) was studied in two habitats of a tropical semi-aridestuary, on the north-eastern Brazilian coast. Samplings were collected on amonthly basis (January 2010–February 2011), and fish were caught during theday using an 8 m beach seine. Habitat use was size-dependent, with tidalmudflat occupied by higher size-classes than tidal creeks, which wereoccupied by smaller conspecifics. The diet analysis of differentsize-classes revealed that all sizes of fish consumed similar taxa(Calanoida, Cyclopoida and Decapoda larvae), and that the relativeproportion of taxa consumed reflected fish size. Dietary differences betweenthe two nursery areas mainly reflected prey availability. Although high dietoverlap was only found between some size-classes in tidal mudflat, theseresults seem to demonstrate a strategy for efficient use of space potential;intraspecific competition was probably minimized by a differential habitatuse patterns.
