Diet of Crenicichla britskii (Perciformes: Cichlidae) in a stream of Rio Aguapeí basin, Upper Rio Paraná system, southeastern Brazil

Abstract

Palavras-chave: Cichlidae, Crenicichla britskii, dieta, bacia do Alto rio Paraná, sudeste do Brasil.Key Words: Cichlidae, Crenicichla britskii, diet, Upper Rio Paraná system, southeastern Brazil. Abstract Diet of Crenicichla britskii (Perciformes: Cichlidae) in a stream of Rio Aguapeí basin, Upper Rio Paraná system, southeastern BrazilWe qualitatively studied the gut contents of 20 specimens (36.1-71.3 mm standard length) of the pike cichlid Crenicichla britskii from a 100 m stretched second order stream running inside a small gallery forest in a large pasture area of Rio Aguapeí basin, State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. The diet, in terms of per cent composition, constituted primarily of aquatic insects (50%) (mostly immature forms), crustaceans (14.3%), unidentified organic material and filamentous green algae (both with 10.7%), followed by fishes and arachnids (both with 7.1%). Diet analysis indicates that C. britskii is a generalist insectivore with a relatively short digestive tube, which feeds on autochthonous items captured in a broad array of habitats such as in the water column or at the surface, buried in or over the bottom, or associated with macrophytes and submerged vegetation debris. ResumoDieta de Crenicichla britskii (Perciformes: Cichlidae) em um riacho da bacia do rio Aguapeí, Alto rio Paraná, sudeste do Brasil Estudamos qualitativamente os conteúdos estomacais de 20 exemplares (36,1-71,3 mm de comprimento padrão) de Crenicichla britskii ("Jacundá" ou "Joaninha"), coletados na bacia do rio Aguapeí, Estado de São Paulo, sudeste do Brasil, em um trecho de 100 m de riacho de segunda ordem correndo no interior de uma mata de galeria rala localizada dentro de uma grande área de pastagem. A dieta, em termos de composição percentual, foi predominantemente constituída por insetos aquáticos (50%) (principalmente estágios imaturos), crustáceos (14,3%), material orgânico não identificado e algas clorofíceas filamentosas (ambos com 10,7%), seguidos por peixes e aracnídeos (ambos com 7,1%). A análise da dieta mostra que C. britskii é um insetívoro generalista que apresenta um tubo digestivo relativamente curto, e uma dieta composta por itens autóctones que captura na coluna d'água ou na superfície, enterrados ou sobre o substrato, ou ainda associados às macrófitas e restos vegetais submersos.http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br Received:August, 27, 2001 Revised: December, 12, 2001 Accepted: December 30, 2001 Biota Neotropica v1 http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br/v1n12/pt/abstract?shortcommunication+BN01001122001 2 http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br

From forests to cattail: how does the riparian zone influence stream fish?

“…1 Andrian et al (1994), Castro & Casatti (1997), Uieda et al (1997), Gibran et al (2001), Casatti (2002), Ferreira & Casatti (2006) and Rocha et al (2009).…”

Comparative feeding ecology and habitats use of Crenicichla species (Perciformes: Cichlidae) in a Venezuelan floodplain river

“…Crenicichla geayi, a relatively small species from the western llanos in Venezuela, also was characterized as is a generalized invertebrate feeder (Winemiller et al, 1995). Likewise, Gibran et al (2001), found that the diet of small C. britskii was dominated by immature aquatic insects (larvae, pupae and nymphs), followed by crustaceans and plant material, and fish remains were found in low amounts. Bethea (2007) found that the dwarf pike cichlid Crenicichla notophthalmus feeds mostly on aquatic insect larvae associated with leaf litter.…”

“…Knöppel (1970) reported food habits in a study of the fishes of Central Amazonas, and Lowe-McConnell (1969) reported on the ecology of fishes in Guyana; all of them found that Crenicichla species feed mostly on fish and aquatic insects. Similarly, Gibran et al (2001) found that C. britskii from the upper rio Paraná was a generalist invertivore, feeding mostly on immature forms of aquatic insects and crustaceans.…”

Relationships between morphology, diet and spatial distribution: testing the effects of intra and interspecific morphological variations on the patterns of resource use in two Neotropical Cichlids

“…Such characteristics are associated with its ability to capture larger and evasive preys throughout the water column (Hulsey & García de León, 2005;Cochran-Biederman & Winemiller, 2010), since the terminal position of the mouth and its higher protrusion (see Fig. 2) favor a wide oral aperture that enables a diet based on larger feeding items, such as crustacean, mollusk, fish and aquatic insect (Gibran et al, 2001;Casatti, 2002;Sampaio & Goulart, 2011). Furthermore, this species also present a well-developed anal fin and a higher caudal peduncle, which are functionally related to the higher maneuverability, movement stabilization and start-ups at short distance displacements (Breda et al, 2005;Oliveira et al, 2010).…”