The role of iceberg scours in niche separation within the Antarctic fish genus Trematomus

Species of the Antarctic fish genus Trematomus occupy different trophic niches. It is not clear, however, whether small-scale variability in benthic community structure affects niche separation. Therefore abundance and biomass of fish were determined and stomach content and food composition was comp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Biology
Main Authors: Brenner, Matthias, Buck, Bela H., Cordes, S., Dietrich, L., Jacob, Ute, Mintenbeck, Katja, Schröder, Alexander, Brey, Thomas, Knust, Rainer, Arntz, Wolf
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: 2001
Subjects:
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Weddell
Weddell Sea
Antarc*
Iceberg*
Polar Biology
Online Access:https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/446/
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/446/1/Bre8888a.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000100246
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.11036
https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.11036.d001
Description
Summary:Species of the Antarctic fish genus Trematomus occupy different trophic niches. It is not clear, however, whether small-scale variability in benthic community structure affects niche separation. Therefore abundance and biomass of fish were determined and stomach content and food composition was compared in areas affected by iceberg scours and unaffected areas in the Weddell Sea. T. eulepidotus, T. lepidorhinus and T. scotti dominate undisturbed areas, whereas T. nicolai and especially T. pennellii dominate disturbed areas. Total stomach content and number of prey taxa per fish are higher in preferred than in non-preferred areas. These findings indicate that small-scale horizontal patterns caused by iceberg scours play a distinct role in Trematomus niche separation.

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