Food resource partitioning between juvenile and mature weatherfish Misgurnus fossilis

Abstrakt

This study represents a description of the diet composition of one of the largest European cobitids, the weatherfish Misgurnus fossilis. Specimens were collected in a drainage canal, representing a typical habitat for weatherfish, and with gut content analysis conducted with regard to individual total length and maturity stage. Overall, the weatherfish diet mainly consisted of Copepoda, Cladocera, Ostracoda, Oligochaeta, Asellus aquaticus, Chironomidae and Coleoptera larvae, Gastropoda, and detritus. To evaluate size-related patterns of resource use, fish were assigned to two size classes, defined according to size at first maturation. ANOSIM analyses revealed major ontogenetic shifts in feeding strategy, which were related to size and maturity, with a significant ontogenetic shift in feeding pattern, marked by differences in the proportions of the main taxonomic groups of prey consumed. Copepoda and Cladocera dominated in the diet of small and immature individuals, while large weatherfish primarily fed on detritus. Similarly, cluster analysis of diet classified into these food types showed distinct two groups comprising juvenile and mature fish. The weatherfish is a food opportunist using all available resources, but spatially showed a change in feeding sites. Smaller and sexually immature individuals more often use prey caught in the water column and among macrophytes, while larger (sexually mature) individuals occupying the bottom, much more often use detritus as a food base.

Autorzy

Kacper Pyrzanowski
Kacper Pyrzanowski
Grzegorz. Zięba
Grzegorz. Zięba
Joanna Leszczyńska
Joanna Leszczyńska
Małgorzata Dukowska
Małgorzata Dukowska
Mirosław Przybylski
Mirosław Przybylski
artykuł
Ecology and Evolution
Angielski
2021
11
9
4460-4469
otwarte czasopismo
CC BY 4.0 Uznanie autorstwa 4.0
ostateczna wersja opublikowana
w momencie opublikowania
2021-05-03
100
3,167
0
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