Trophic relationships among fish assemblages on a mudflat within a Brazilian Marine protected area

Autor: Dafne Marcelle de Almeida Ramos Campos, Adna Ferreira da Silva, Natalice dos Santos Sales, Ronnie Enderson Mariano Carvalho Cunha Oliveira, Andre Luiz Machado Pessanha
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: Brazilian Journal of Oceanography, Vol 63, Iss 4, Pp 429-442 (2015)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1982-436X
1679-8759
DOI: 10.1590/S1679-87592015091306304
Popis: Abstract The present study deals with the temporal variations in diet and the trophic guilds of dominant fish species on a tidal mudflat during the dry and rainy seasons. We sought to classify the diet composition of 17 species in the Mamanguape river estuary, northeastern Brazil, identifying the dominant food components and evaluating the effects of seasonality on the guild organization. Diets varied little between species and seasons, though they seemed to be more heterogeneous during the rainy season. Five primary feeding guilds were identified, in accordance with the importance of prey in the diets: (1) Detritivore, (2) Zooplanktivore, (3) Zoobenthivore-epifaune, (4) Zoobenthivore-infaune, and (5) Piscivore. Most fishes fed on a diverse range of food items but relied heavily on zooplankton prey. Several fish species showed a tendency to a specialised diet, with almost all species showing some degree of opportunistic feeding. A high degree of diet overlap was found among some species; however, the presence of exploitative competition could not be determined.
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