Changes in the diet composition of transitory fishes in coastal systems, estuary and continental shelf

Abstract

The feeding habits of five species of teleosts in the southern coast of Brazil were analyzed comparatively between estuary and continental shelf. The displacement between the two sites caused expressive qualitative alterations, the proportion of different items varying from 50% in the diet of Micropogonias furnieri to 89% in Isopisthus parvipinnis. In the group of species, 57% of the items were exclusive to one of the environments and, within the three most common items in the estuary - fish, Polychaeta and plants, only the former was also among the most common items in the shelf. In spite of these differences, the high spectrum of items in both environments and the nature of the item that was most consumed in each one, indicate that there was a certain similarity of patterns between estuary and shelf: Chloroscombrus chrysurus had a carnivorous diet, with a predominance of copepods; M. furnieri and Menticirrhus americanus showed a tendency towards an omnivorous diet; and Cynoscion leiarchus and I. parvipinnis showed a tendency towards ichthyophagy.<br>A alimentação de cinco espécies de teleósteos do litoral sul do Brasil foi analisada comparativamente entre estuário e plataforma continental. Constatou-se que o deslocamento entre os locais acarreta expressivas alterações qualitativas, a proporção de itens diferentes variando de 50% em Micropogonias furnieri a 89% em Isopisthus parvipinnis. No conjunto das espécies, 57% dos itens foram exclusivos de um ambiente ou de outro, e dentre os três mais comuns no estuário - peixes, Polychaeta e vegetais superiores, apenas o primeiro também esteve entre os mais comuns na plataforma. Apesar dessas diferenças, o grande espectro de itens em ambos os ambientes e a natureza daquele mais consumido em cada um indicam que há uma certa similaridade de padrões entre estuário e plataforma: em Chloroscombrus chrysurus, dieta carnívora, com predomínio de copépodos; em M. furnieri e Menticirrhus americanus, tendência à onivoria; e em Cynoscion leiarchus e I. parvipinnis, tendência à ictiofagia

Local and regional ecological drivers of fish assemblages in Brazilian estuaries

“…3) with different trophic characteristics (e.g. from omnivorous to piscivorous; Chaves & Vendel 1998, Chaves & Umbria 2003 appears to further contribute to the abundance of this family in this and other studies. However, even though many families were shared among the estuaries, most species were not widely distributed.…”

Ichthyofauna as bioindicator of environmental quality in an industrial district in the amazon estuary, Brazil

“…The reduced equitability was probably influenced by the dominance of L. dorsalis and P. squamosissimus. Species representative of all different feeding modes are expected in natural estuaries, as well as a predominance of bottom-feeders (Blaber, 2000;Chaves and Umbria, 2003;Paiva et al, 2008). This pattern was observed in all parts of the study area, in terms of both the number of species and individuals, given the predominance of zoobenthivores, piscivore-zoobenthivores, opportunist-omnivores and detritivores.…”

Natural diet and feeding habits of a freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium carcinus: Crustacea, Decapoda) in the estuary of the Amazon River

“…The knowledge of the diet and feeding habits of a species in nature is important for the establishment of its nutritional needs and interactions with other organisms (Chaves andUmbria 2003, Albertoni et al 2003). Food and feeding habits are indispensable part of biological and taxonomic studies, once essential functions of an organism as growth, development and reproduction are all dependent on the energy that enters as food (Wootton 1992).…”

“…The analysis of stomach contents provide important information about the feeding habits of the species; also it gives evidence of their trophic position in a community and can reveal the preferred food items or the most used (Fonteles-Filho 1989;Chaves and Umbria 2003). Investigations regarding the feeding biology of Macrobrachium prawns remain scarce, being limited to some reports by Collins and Paggi (1998) Some authors have shown that Palaemonidae species has a varied diet composed by several items, especially detrital items that are usually important and quite common components (Howard 1984;Collins and Paggi 1998).…”