The Alborán Sea sardine (Sardina pilchardus) is the most abundant small pelagic fish in the Mediterranean Sea. Along the northern coast of the Alborán Sea, Málaga and Almería Bay are two important nursery grounds with contrasting oceanographic characteristics. Post-larval stages of S. pilchardus were collected during the late autumn and late winter along with the mesozooplankton community. We examined the influence of feeding behavior on larval growth using environmental variables, daily growth metrics, otolith biometry, stable isotope analysis and trophodynamics. Trophic positions were calculated using mesoozooplankton as potential prey for S. pilchardus. During both seasons, we observed faster growth in larger otoliths that also corresponded to higher trophic positions. Our results indicate that the isotopic signature of larvae is highly influenced by the mesozooplankton community structure. Moreover, the trophic variables showed a significant linear relationship with the estimated ages for all larvae indicating dietary changes throughout ontogenic development.

Alborán海沙丁鱼（Sardina pilchardus）是地中海中最丰富的中上层鱼类。沿着Alborán海的北部海岸，马拉加湾和Almería湾是两个具有相反海洋学特征的重要苗圃场。在秋末和冬末与中生浮游动物群落一起采集了沙丁鱼的幼虫后阶段。我们使用环境变量，每日生长指标，耳石生物学，稳定同位素分析和营养动力学研究了喂养行为对幼虫生长的影响。营养位置使用mesoozooplankton作为潜在的猎物计算S. pilchardus。在两个季节中，我们观察到较大的耳石的生长更快，这也与较高的营养位置相对应。我们的结果表明，幼虫的同位素特征受中型浮游动物群落结构的高度影响。此外，营养变量与所有幼虫的估计年龄显示出显着的线性关系，表明整个个体发育过程中的饮食变化。