scholarly journals Ecological Traits Influencing Anthropogenic Debris Ingestion by Herbivorous Reef Fishes

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel C. Cardozo-Ferreira ◽  
Thayane L. Calazans ◽  
Larissa J. Benevides ◽  
Osmar J. Luiz ◽  
Carlos E. L. Ferreira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Strategy ◽  
Ingestion Rate ◽  
Reef Fishes ◽  
Trophic Group ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Brazilian Coast ◽  
Feeding Mode ◽  
Activity Intensity ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Strategy Types

One of the most conspicuous marks of the Anthropocene worldwide is the ubiquitous pollution by long lifespan materials (e.g., plastic). In marine habitats, anthropogenic debris are observed from floating on the surface to deposited on the substrate or ingested by wildlife at different food web levels. However, the link between feeding strategy types and debris ingestion by reef fishes remains poorly explored. We analyzed the gut contents of three nominally herbivorous fishes along the Brazilian coast: the doctorfish Acanthurus chirurgus, the parrotfish, Sparisoma axillare, and the chub Kyphosus vaigiensis. Individual [i.e., total length (TL)] and species-level functional traits, as well sites with distinct environmental features (i.e., tourism activity intensity, fishing pressure, and distance from the coast), were tested as predictors of the concentration of debris found inside individual fish guts. Debris found were quantified, measured, and classified accordingly to color and shape. We found debris in 52.7% of individuals. Debris ranged from 0.10 to 11.75 mm, and the frequency of occurrence and ingestion rate (number of debris per individual) varied among species, being higher for the scraper species S. axillare (95.7% and 4.9 ± 1.2, respectively) and A. chirurgus (74.6% and 1.64 ± 0.34), than for the browser K. vaigiensis (55.8% and 0.83 ± 0.24). TL, scraping feeding mode, and the most impacted location were positively related to debris ingestion rate. Our work revealed a higher vulnerability of an ecologically important trophic group to debris ingestion and of an already threatened species according to Brazilian red list. Besides the increasing number of species contaminated by anthropogenic debris, its effect on fish biology and physiology remains poorly understood. Understanding these links would improve conservation planning as species contamination could act as a proxy for environmental pollution on marine habitats.

scholarly journals Reef fish community structure on three islands of Itaipu, Southeast Brazil

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Policarpo de Mendonça-Neto ◽  
Cassiano Monteiro-Neto ◽  
Luiz Eduardo Moraes
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Reef Fishes ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Brazilian Coast ◽  
Rocky Reef ◽  
Fish Community Structure ◽  
Rocky Reefs ◽  
Chain Link ◽  
One Year

We provide here the first assessment of the composition, abundance and distribution of rocky reef fishes of Itaipu Sound, Rio de Janeiro, off the southeastern Brazilian coast. Monthly visual censuses, benthic quadrats and chain link transects were conducted over one year on rocky reefs at three islands (Menina, Mãe and Pai). A total of 2466 individual fish, belonging to 29 families and 42 species were recorded. The most abundant fish species were Parablennius pilicornis, Haemulon steindachneri, Orthopristis ruber and Diplodus argenteus. Sheltered and complex habitats showed the most abundant and diverse fish populations. There was a major significant separation between sampling sites and a secondary seasonal pattern. The three sites showed similar fish communities with locally structured environmental gradients according to their inherent habitat characteristics.

New genera, species and occurrence records of Goniasteridae (Asteroidea; Echinodermata) from the Indian Ocean

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4539 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTOPHER L. MAH
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Western Indian Ocean ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
New Genera ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
The North ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Occurrence Records

Modern goniasterids are the most numerous of living asteroids in terms of described genera and species and they have important ecological roles from shallow to deep-water marine habitats. Recent MNHN expeditions and historical collections in the USNM have resulted in the discovery of 18 new species, three new genera and multiple new occurrence records from the western Indian Ocean region including Madagascar, Glorioso and Mayotte islands, Walters Shoal, South Africa, and Somalia. This report provides the first significant contribution to knowledge of deep-sea Asteroidea from the Indian Ocean since the late 20th Century. Several deep-sea species, previously known from the North Pacific are now reported from the western Indian Ocean. Gut contents from Stellaster and Ogmaster indicate deposit feeding. Feeding modes of this and other deep-sea species are discussed. Comments are made on fossil members of included taxa. A checklist of Indian Ocean Goniasteridae is also included.

scholarly journals DNA-based identification of predators of the corallivorous Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster cf. solaris) from fish faeces and gut contents

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederieke J. Kroon ◽  
Carine D. Lefèvre ◽  
Jason R. Doyle ◽  
Frances Patel ◽  
Grant Milton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Reef Fish ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Coral Reef Fish ◽  
Coral Cover ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Reef Fishes ◽  
Positive Control ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Reef Fish Species

Abstract The corallivorous Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (CoTS, Acanthaster spp.) has been linked with the widespread loss of scleractinian coral cover on Indo-Pacific reefs during periodic population outbreaks. Here, we re-examine CoTS consumption by coral reef fish species by using new DNA technologies to detect Pacific Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster cf. solaris) in fish faecal and gut content samples. CoTS DNA was detected in samples from 18 different coral reef fish species collected on reefs at various stages of CoTS outbreaks in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, nine of which had not been previously reported to feed on CoTS. A comprehensive set of negative and positive control samples confirmed that our collection, processing and analysis procedures were robust, although food web transfer of CoTS DNA cannot be ruled out for some fish species. Our results, combined with the (i) presence of CoTS spines in some samples, (ii) reported predation on CoTS gametes, larvae and settled individuals, and (iii) known diet information for fish species examined, strongly indicate that direct fish predation on CoTS may well be more common than is currently appreciated. We provide recommendations for specific management approaches to enhance predation on CoTS by coral reef fishes, and to support the mitigation of CoTS outbreaks and reverse declines in hard coral cover.

scholarly journals Cambrian cinctan echinoderms shed light on feeding in the ancestral deuterostome

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1818) ◽  
pp. 20151964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imran A. Rahman ◽  
Samuel Zamora ◽  
Peter L. Falkingham ◽  
Jeremy C. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Feeding Strategy ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Filter Feeder ◽  
Feeding Mode ◽  
Active Feeding ◽  
Filter Feeders ◽  
Drag And Lift ◽  
Shed Light

Reconstructing the feeding mode of the latest common ancestor of deuterostomes is key to elucidating the early evolution of feeding in chordates and allied phyla; however, it is debated whether the ancestral deuterostome was a tentaculate feeder or a pharyngeal filter feeder. To address this, we evaluated the hydrodynamics of feeding in a group of fossil stem-group echinoderms (cinctans) using computational fluid dynamics. We simulated water flow past three-dimensional digital models of a Cambrian fossil cinctan in a range of possible life positions, adopting both passive tentacular feeding and active pharyngeal filter feeding. The results demonstrate that an orientation with the mouth facing downstream of the current was optimal for drag and lift reduction. Moreover, they show that there was almost no flow to the mouth and associated marginal groove under simulations of passive feeding, whereas considerable flow towards the animal was observed for active feeding, which would have enhanced the transport of suspended particles to the mouth. This strongly suggests that cinctans were active pharyngeal filter feeders, like modern enteropneust hemichordates and urochordates, indicating that the ancestral deuterostome employed a similar feeding strategy.

scholarly journals Diets and Seasonal Ingestion Rates of Aurelia coerulea (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) Polyps by in situ Feeding Experiments in Jiaozhou Bay, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang Pengpeng ◽  
Zhang Fang ◽  
Guo Dongjie ◽  
Sun Song
Keyword(s):  
Prey Capture ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Ingestion Rate ◽  
Jiaozhou Bay ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Natural Diet ◽  
Ingestion Rates ◽  
Aurelia Coerulea ◽  
Feeding Experiments

The benthic scyphopolyp population is an important stage in the scyphozoan lifecycle. Nevertheless, few studies have detailed the natural feeding and quantified the energy flux of polyps based on field research. To better understand the scyphopolyp natural diet and seasonal variation patterns in the ingestion rate, in situ feeding experiments were conducted on Aurelia coerulea polyps in Jiaozhou Bay, China from August 2018 to April 2019. The diet of A. coerulea polyps was determined by gut content analysis. Digestion rates were also measured. Ingestion rates, based on the gut contents and digestion rates, were assessed monthly. Copepods, copepod nauplii, and ciliates were identified in the guts of A. coerulea polyps. Copepods with the bulk of total prey intake in number are an important source of nutrition for A. coerulea polyps in Jiaozhou Bay. Prey capture of A. coerulea polyps (prey polyp–1) varied among months, and was highly dependent upon the abundance of planktonic prey in the habitat. Copepods and copepod nauplii were digested more rapidly as temperature increased. Carbon weight-specific ingestion rate exhibited an obvious seasonal change, with the mean value of 0.13 ± 0.12 μg C μg C–1 d–1. More rapid digestion of prey at higher temperatures and larger prey availability would cause a higher ingestion rate in polyps. Scyphopolyps are widely distributed predators in littoral ecosystems and they may play an important role in plankton–benthos coupling by transferring energy from the water column to the benthos. Massive scyphopolyps blooms may influence pelagic ecosystems.

scholarly journals The marine fishes of St Eustatius Island, northeastern Caribbean: an annotated, photographic catalog

ZooKeys ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1007 ◽  
pp. 145-180
Author(s):  
David Ross Robertson ◽  
Carlos J. Estapé ◽  
Allison M. Estapé ◽  
Ernesto Peña ◽  
Luke Tornabene ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Fish ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Marine Reserve ◽  
Fish Fauna ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Reef Fishes ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Species List ◽  
Deep Reef ◽  
Marine Habitats

Sint Eustatius (Statia) is a 21 km2 island situated in the northeastern Caribbean Sea. The most recent published sources of information on that island’s marine fish fauna is in two non-governmental organization reports from 2015–17 related to the formation of a marine reserve. The species-list in the 2017 report was based on field research in 2013–15 using SCUBA diving surveys, shallow “baited underwater video surveys” (BRUVs), and data from fishery surveys and scientific collections over the preceding century. That checklist comprised 304 species of shallow (mostly) and deep-water fishes. In 2017 the Smithsonian Deep Reef Observation Project surveyed deep-reef fishes at Statia using the crewed submersible Curasub. That effort recorded 120 species, including 59 new occurrences records. In March-May 2020, two experienced citizen scientists completed 62 SCUBA dives there and recorded 244 shallow species, 40 of them new records for Statia. The 2017–2020 research effort increased the number of species known from the island by 33.6% to 406. Here we present an updated catalog of that marine fish fauna, including voucher photographs of 280 species recorded there in 2017 and 2020. The Statia reef-fish fauna likely is incompletely documented as it has few small, shallow, cryptobenthic species, which are a major component of the regional fauna. A lack of targeted sampling is probably the major factor explaining that deficit, although a limited range of benthic marine habitats may also be contributing.

scholarly journals Genetic diversity of three ornamental reef fishes (Families Pomacanthidae and Chaetodontidae) from the Brazilian coast

2007 ◽  
Vol 67 (4 suppl) ◽  
pp. 925-933 ◽  
Author(s):  
PRAM. Affonso ◽  
PM. Galetti Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
Genetic Differentiation ◽  
Reef Fishes ◽  
Population Diversity ◽  
Brazilian Coast ◽  
Selective Pressures ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Ecological Features ◽  
Brazilian Province ◽  
Ornamental Species

Reef fishes of the families Pomacanthidae (angelfish) and Chaetodontidae (butterflyfish) are popular ornamental species, intensively harvested for the aquarium trade. The impacts of such activity on intra-specific diversity and reef ecosystems are still poorly understood in the south Atlantic. In the present work, a fine-scale genetic analysis using RAPD markers was performed in distinct samples of the queen angelfish (Holacanthus ciliaris), French angelfish (Pomacanthus paru), and banded butterflyfish (Chaetodon striatus) along the Brazilian coast. Most of the genetic variation in the three species was related to intra-population diversity. However, AMOVA results demonstrated that H. ciliaris presents a subtle population structure (sigmast = 0.132, P = 0.003), while P. paru and C. striatus present low genetic differentiation, especially remarkable in the latter (sigmast = 0.090, P = 0.001 and sigmast = 0.041, P = 0.028, respectively). Gene flow (Nm) was also higher in C. striatus than in the angelfish species. The reported patterns of genetic differentiation contrast with the similar pelagic stage of the selected species, suggesting that larval dispersal per se is a poor predictor of population structure in these reef fishes. Ecological features coupled with biogeographic history and distinct local selective pressures might play a major role on the genetic composition of each species. Although preliminary, the present results provide a baseline for monitoring the genetic variability in these reef species. These differences in the genetic structure among co-occurring species should be taken into consideration for the conservation of eventual evolutionary units along the Brazilian Province.

scholarly journals Diet preferences of the Aglajidae: a family of cephalaspidean gastropod predators on tropical and temperate shores

2015 ◽  
Vol 96 (5) ◽  
pp. 1101-1112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Zamora-Silva ◽  
Manuel António E. Malaquias
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Adaptive Radiation ◽  
Food Habits ◽  
Digestive System ◽  
Trophic Niche ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Feeding Mode ◽  
Dietary Specialization ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Scanning Electron

Aglajidae is a family of tropical and temperate marine Cephalaspidea gastropod slugs regarded as active predators. In order to better understand their food habits and trophic interactions, we have studied the diet of all genera through the examination of gut contents. Specimens were dissected for the digestive tract and gut contents were removed and identified by optical and scanning electron microscopy. Our results confirmed that carnivory is the only feeding mode in aglajids and showed a sharp preference for vagile prey (94% of food items). We suggest that the interaction between crawling speed, presence of sensorial structures capable of detecting chemical signals from prey, and unique features of the digestive system (e.g. lack of radula, eversion of the buccal bulb, thickening of gizzard walls) led aglajid slugs to occupy a unique trophic niche among cephalaspideans, supporting the hypothesis that dietary specialization played a major role in the adaptive radiation of Cephalaspidea gastropods.

Ingestion of host blood by the monogenean Pseudodiplorchis americanus: a quantitative analysis

Parasitology ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Tocque ◽  
R. C. Tinsley
Keyword(s):  
Urinary Bladder ◽  
Ingestion Rate ◽  
Waste Product ◽  
Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry ◽  
Blood Parasite ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Bladder Tissue ◽  
Scaphiopus Couchii ◽  
Gut Evacuation ◽  
Host Blood

SUMMARYPseudodiplorchis americanus infects the urinary bladder of a desert toad and feeds exclusively on blood, producing the iron-rich waste product haematin. The host, Scaphiopus couchii, retains dilute urine within the urinary bladder as a water store throughout hibernation and parasite waste will therefore not be eliminated. This study utilized atomic absorption spectrophotometry to quantify the iron within the urinary bladders of infected and uninfected toads after different periods of hibernation. During the first 4 months hibernation, no detectable iron, above that of the controls, was found in the urine and bladder tissue of infected animals, but after 5–6 months hibernation there was a small but not significant increase. The iron contained within most individual parasites was greater than that detected in the urine and bladder tissue of the host, and the total iron in each parasite infrapopulation was 3–83 times greater than the urinary bladder iron. This suggests that the parasites do not regurgitate their gut contents during host hibernation. The amount of iron in individual parasites increased with time after migration to the bladder and this was used to estimate the amount of blood ingested by P. americanus. At a controlled temperature of 25 °C, the estimated rate of ingestion increased from 0·33 μl blood/parasite/week by worms 2 weeks post-migration to a maximum of around 1·6 μl by worms 5 months post-migration. The rate of blood ingestion by older worms was also calculated as a function of the hibernation period (since this did not correspond to worm age) assuming complete gut evacuation at the start of hibernation. This provided maximum estimates of ingestion rate of 1·9–5·3 μl blood/parasite/week.

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