Dietary overlap and food resource partitioning among fish species of a tropical estuary in Northeastern Brazil

The current work investigates dietary overlap and food partitioning among nine abundant carnivorous fishes caught in the shallow waters of the Paraíba do Norte river estuary, Paraíba State, Brazil. Fishes were sampled with a beach seine net between January and December 2008 and a total of 958 specimens had their stomach content analyzed. Crustacea was the dominant food resource for Lutjanus alexandrei, L. jocu and Bathygobius soporator, whereas Telostei were consumed mainly by Centropomus undecimalis and C. parallelus. In contrast, Polychaeta were preyed upon mainly by Diapterus rhombeus, Eucinostomus argenteus, Sciades herzbergii and S. parkeri. Although most species consumed similar food items, they did that in varying proportions and amounts. Overall, the niche overlap among species was low (< 0.60), but there were several cases where pair of species had their feeding niche highly overlapped (between 0.72 and 0.97). These findings corroborate the hypothesis that food resource partitioning determines species coexistence in estuarine tropical environments.

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Resource partitioning and ecomorphological variation in two syntopic species of Lebiasinidae (Characiformes) in an Amazonian stream

Acta Amazonica ◽

10.1590/1809-4392201501024 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 25-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Nathália Carina dos Santos SILVA ◽

Aluízio José Lopes da COSTA ◽

José LOUVISE ◽

Bruno Eleres SOARES ◽

Vanessa Cristine e Souza REIS ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Resource Partitioning ◽

Trophic Ecology ◽

Species Coexistence ◽

Stomach Contents ◽

Relative Length ◽

Niche Overlap ◽

The Body ◽

Feeding Strategies ◽

Relative Depth ◽

Feeding Niche

ABSTRACTResource partitioning is important for species coexistence. Species with similar ecomorphology are potential competitors, especially when phylogenetically close, due to niche conservatism. The aim of this study was to investigate the resource partitioning among populations of two species of lebiasinids (Copella nigrofasciata and Pyrrhulina aff. brevis) that co-occur in a first-order Amazonian stream, analyzing the trophic ecology, feeding strategies and ecomorphological attributes related to the use of food and space by these species. Fish were captured in May and September 2010. The stomach contents of 60 individuals were analyzed and quantified volumetrically to characterize the feeding ecology of both species. Eleven morphological attributes were measured in 20 specimens and combined in nine ecomorphological indices. Both species had an omnivorous-invertivorous diet and consumed predominantly allochthonous items. Both showed a tendency to a generalist diet, but intrapopulational variation in resource use was also detected. Overall feeding niche overlap was high, but differed between seasons: low during the rainy season and high in the dry season. In the latter, the food niche overlap was asymmetric because C. nigrofasciata consumed several prey of P. aff. brevis, which reduced its food spectrum. The ecomorphological analysis suggests that C. nigrofasciatahas greater swimming capacity (greater relative length of caudal peduncle) than P. aff. brevis, which has greater maneuverability and tendency to inhabit lentic environments (greater relative depth of the body). Our results demonstrate that these species have similar trophic ecology and suggest a spatial segregation, given by morphological differences related to locomotion and occupation of habitat, favoring their coexistence.

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Food resource partitioning in syntopic nectarivorous bats on Puerto Rico

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467414000145 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 359-369 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

J. Angel Soto-Centeno ◽

Donald L. Phillips ◽

Allen Kurta ◽

Keith A. Hobson

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rico ◽

Resource Partitioning ◽

Species Coexistence ◽

Probability Distributions ◽

Food Resource ◽

High Energy ◽

Reproductive Condition ◽

Plant Foods ◽

Lactating Females ◽

Food Resource Partitioning

Abstract:Understanding the dietary needs of syntopic species is essential for examining species coexistence and resource partitioning. We analysed stable isotopes of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) to estimate the diet of two putative nectarivorous bats on Puerto Rico, the brown flower bat (Erophylla bombifrons) and the Greater Antillean long-tongued bat (Monophyllus redmani). Isotopic ratios of δ13C and δ15N were obtained from whole blood of both species of bat and tissues of available plant foods and insect prey over 15 wk at the same locality. We used a concentration-dependent Bayesian mixing model to determine probability distributions of feasible dietary contributions for major potential foods used by each species of bat. Additionally, separate dietary estimates were conducted for males and non-reproductive, pregnant and lactating females to determine differences due to reproductive condition. Insects were an important source of protein for M. redmani, whereas E. bombifrons obtained most of its protein from plants. In both species of bat, lactating females had lower assimilated nitrogen than males, suggesting more reliance on plants for protein. We observed no intraspecific differences in assimilated carbon among reproductive conditions. Flight and lactation are energetically expensive and may explain the increased consumption of high-energy foods, such as fruit or nectar, in lactating female bats. Comparison of isotopes between E. bombifrons and M. redmani illustrate the differential use of food resources by these insular syntopic species of bat.

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Feeding Strategies and Partition of Food Resources in Deep-Water Decapod Crustaceans (400–2300 m)

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s002531540004159x ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 78 (2) ◽

pp. 509-524 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Joan E. Cartes

Keyword(s):

Resource Partitioning ◽

Feeding Strategy ◽

Food Resource ◽

Progressive Increase ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Food Resources ◽

Feeding Strategies ◽

Dietary Overlap ◽

Decapod Crustaceans ◽

Food Resource Partitioning

Food resource partitioning and trends in feeding strategies were examined in 3882 individual decapod crustaceans collected from 1989 to 1990, using bottom trawls at depths between 380 and 2261 m in the Catalan Sea (western Mediterranean). The vertical distribution of available food resources near the bottom was the most important factor responsible for food resource partitioning among bathyal decapod crustaceans by depth stratum and season. Decapods were assigned to five different trophic groups according to the food resource exploited and feeding strategy employed (macroplankton feeders, macroplankton-epibenthic feeders, epibenthic feeders, epibenthic-endobenthic feeders, and deposit feeders). There was little dietary overlap, indicating that species did partition the available resources. Overall, dietary overlap values among species increased with depth. Although a trend to increase H’ values for diets with depth was observed, this was not significant (P < 0.10), whereas differences in the percentage of empty stomachs and the frequency of foraminiferans and pteropods in the foreguts increased significantly (P < 0.05) with depth. This last result is indicative of a progressive increase in the importance of deposit feeding in decapod crustaceans as depth increases.

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