Food availability and the feeding ecology of ichthyofauna of a Ria Formosa (South Portugal) water reservoir
The feeding habits of several fish species in a water reservoir of the Ria Formosa, Portugal, that has similar ecological characteristics to the outside tidal channels, were studied and compared with food availability. The gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), the most abundant fish species, mainly sel...
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Language: | English |
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Chesapeake Biological Laboratory; Estuarine Research Federation, Springer Verlag
2003
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/8882 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02803352 |
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ftunivalgarve:oai:sapientia.ualg.pt:10400.1/8882 2023-05-15T13:27:56+02:00 Food availability and the feeding ecology of ichthyofauna of a Ria Formosa (South Portugal) water reservoir Gamito, Sofia Pires, A. Pita, C. Erzini, Karim 2003-08 http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/8882 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02803352 eng eng Chesapeake Biological Laboratory; Estuarine Research Federation, Springer Verlag WOS:000185936000012 0160-8347 AUT: SGA00408; KER00534; http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/8882 doi:10.1007/BF02803352 restrictedAccess article 2003 ftunivalgarve https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02803352 2022-05-30T08:47:22Z The feeding habits of several fish species in a water reservoir of the Ria Formosa, Portugal, that has similar ecological characteristics to the outside tidal channels, were studied and compared with food availability. The gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), the most abundant fish species, mainly selected gastropods and bivalves, although occasionally fish and small crustaceans such as tanaids, ostracods, and cumaceans were also selected. Polychaetes, although abundant in the environment, were not particularly selected by any of the fish species studied. The diets of all the species studied were characterized by a large variety of prey, allowing them to survive in environments of low diversity and poor stability, such as coastal lagoons. These fish are largely benthic feeders, essentially eating the epimacroinvertebrates and endomacroinvertebrates and, occasionally, fish. Diplodus vulgaris and Diplodus annularis preferentially selected gastropods and small crustaceans. Spondyliosoma cantharus generally preyed on crustaceans, including the highly mobile epifauna, the mysids, and decapods. Halobatrachus didactylus and Anguilla anguilla, had very diversified diets that included fish. Mullus barbatus were found to have selected all groups of crustaceans and also bivalves. Wrasses, gobies, and Diplodus sargus, all small-sized fish, singled out small crustaceans, gastropods, and bivalves. The Sparids were the least specialized predators, with broader niches than the other species. They preferentially selected molluscs, which were abundant in the environment. A large overlap of diets was observed and competition may be important when fish biomass is high. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla Universidade do Algarve: Sapienta Estuaries 26 4 938 948 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Universidade do Algarve: Sapienta |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalgarve |
language |
English |
description |
The feeding habits of several fish species in a water reservoir of the Ria Formosa, Portugal, that has similar ecological characteristics to the outside tidal channels, were studied and compared with food availability. The gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), the most abundant fish species, mainly selected gastropods and bivalves, although occasionally fish and small crustaceans such as tanaids, ostracods, and cumaceans were also selected. Polychaetes, although abundant in the environment, were not particularly selected by any of the fish species studied. The diets of all the species studied were characterized by a large variety of prey, allowing them to survive in environments of low diversity and poor stability, such as coastal lagoons. These fish are largely benthic feeders, essentially eating the epimacroinvertebrates and endomacroinvertebrates and, occasionally, fish. Diplodus vulgaris and Diplodus annularis preferentially selected gastropods and small crustaceans. Spondyliosoma cantharus generally preyed on crustaceans, including the highly mobile epifauna, the mysids, and decapods. Halobatrachus didactylus and Anguilla anguilla, had very diversified diets that included fish. Mullus barbatus were found to have selected all groups of crustaceans and also bivalves. Wrasses, gobies, and Diplodus sargus, all small-sized fish, singled out small crustaceans, gastropods, and bivalves. The Sparids were the least specialized predators, with broader niches than the other species. They preferentially selected molluscs, which were abundant in the environment. A large overlap of diets was observed and competition may be important when fish biomass is high. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gamito, Sofia Pires, A. Pita, C. Erzini, Karim |
spellingShingle |
Gamito, Sofia Pires, A. Pita, C. Erzini, Karim Food availability and the feeding ecology of ichthyofauna of a Ria Formosa (South Portugal) water reservoir |
author_facet |
Gamito, Sofia Pires, A. Pita, C. Erzini, Karim |
author_sort |
Gamito, Sofia |
title |
Food availability and the feeding ecology of ichthyofauna of a Ria Formosa (South Portugal) water reservoir |
title_short |
Food availability and the feeding ecology of ichthyofauna of a Ria Formosa (South Portugal) water reservoir |
title_full |
Food availability and the feeding ecology of ichthyofauna of a Ria Formosa (South Portugal) water reservoir |
title_fullStr |
Food availability and the feeding ecology of ichthyofauna of a Ria Formosa (South Portugal) water reservoir |
title_full_unstemmed |
Food availability and the feeding ecology of ichthyofauna of a Ria Formosa (South Portugal) water reservoir |
title_sort |
food availability and the feeding ecology of ichthyofauna of a ria formosa (south portugal) water reservoir |
publisher |
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory; Estuarine Research Federation, Springer Verlag |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/8882 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02803352 |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla |
op_relation |
WOS:000185936000012 0160-8347 AUT: SGA00408; KER00534; http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/8882 doi:10.1007/BF02803352 |
op_rights |
restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02803352 |
container_title |
Estuaries |
container_volume |
26 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
938 |
op_container_end_page |
948 |
_version_ |
1766401199540535296 |