Polar Biol (2008) 31:663–670 DOI 10.1007/s00300-008-0404-5ORIGINAL PAPER Food resource partitioning among Arctic sublittoral lysianassoid amphipods in summer
Orchomenella minuta) co-occur in the shallow sublittoral of Kongsfjorden (Svalbard, Arctic), share similar functional attributes, and exploit a common food base. All species are known to be necrophagous; however, this study revealed through combination of gut-content analysis with the mor-phological...
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| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.690.4466 http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/134557.pdf |
| Summary: | Orchomenella minuta) co-occur in the shallow sublittoral of Kongsfjorden (Svalbard, Arctic), share similar functional attributes, and exploit a common food base. All species are known to be necrophagous; however, this study revealed through combination of gut-content analysis with the mor-phological characteristics of their mandibles and available information on feeding ecology, the complexity of their trophic strategies. Only mature individuals of A. nugax are true scavengers; immature individuals of this species feed on both animal and non-animal food. A. sarsi and O. caricus are scavengers and predators; the former prefers polychaetes, while the latter relies mostly on zooplankton. O. edwardsii is an omnivorous feeder, and the set of its primary food consists of carrion, crustaceans, and algae. O. minuta is a detrivorous–carnivorous species. These results indicate that niche overlap among these closely related species is reduced, not only by spatial segregation, but also by the exploitation of diVerent components of food resources. |
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