Trophic ecology of two congeneric pipefishes (Syngnathidae) of the lower York River, Virginia

Teixeira, R. L.; Musick, John A.

doi:10.1007/bf00005862

Cited by 40 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In Chesapeake Bay, the food habits of the lined seahorse mostly resemble that of the northern, Syngnathus fuscus, and the dusky pipefish S. floridae (Mercer, 1973;Teixeira & Musick, 1995). Amphipods were the most important prey for all length groups analyzed, but copepods are probably more important for the newborn seahorse.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The limitation of prey type in many syngnathid species has been attributed to snout size (and width) by many authors (e.g., Mercer, 1973;Brook, 1977;Teixeira & Musick, 1995). In Chesapeake Bay, the food habits of the lined seahorse mostly resemble that of the northern, Syngnathus fuscus, and the dusky pipefish S. floridae (Mercer, 1973;Teixeira & Musick, 1995).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Reproduction and food habits of the lined seahorse, Hippocampus erectus (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) of Chesapeake Bay, Virginia

Teixeira¹,

Musick

2001

Rev. Bras. Biol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The reproductive and feeding biology of the lined seahorse, Hippocampus erectus, was studied in Chesapeake Bay. Seahorses are monogamous, and males incubate the eggs received from females in a closed brood pouch (= marsupium). Females do not play any parental care after mating. Total sex ratio and the operational sex ratio was strongly skewed toward females. Males and females had similar number of eggs/embryos and hydrated oocytes, respectively. The number of eggs/embryos found in the male brood pouch varied from 97 to 1,552 (fish from 80 to 126 mm TL), whereas the number of hydrated oocytes in female varied from 90 to 1,313 (fish from 60 to 123 mm TL). Both, the number of eggs/embryos and hydrated oocytes were better linearly correlated to total weight than to total length. The small snout and mouth size limits the feeding of the lined seahorse to small prey size. Amphypods were the predominant food items found in the guts, especially Ampithoe longimana, Gammarus mucronatus, and Caprella penantis. The lined seahorse is not abundant in Chesapeake Bay, but keeps a breeding population which is probably brought inside the bay by currents on drifting vegetation. Chances to find a partner may be difficult because of its low abundance, due to turbid waters, and its sedentary behavior.Key words: parental care, fecundity, fertility, amphipods, estuary. RESUMOReprodução e hábito alimentar do cavalo-marinho Hippocampus erectus (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) de Chesapeake Bay, Virgínia A biologia reprodutiva e alimentar do cavalo-marinho Hippocampus erectus foi estudada no estuário de Chesapeake Bay, Virgínia. Cavalos-marinhos são monógamos, sendo que o macho incuba os ovos recebidos da fêmea em uma bolsa incubadora fechada (= marsúpio). As fêmeas não desempenham qualquer cuidado com a prole após a fecundação. A razão sexual total e operacional foi fortemente direcionada para as fêmeas. sapeake Bay, mas mantém uma população reprodutiva. As chances para encontrar um parceiro são pequenas, devido à baixa abundância, às águas túrbidas e ao comportamento sedentário da espécie.Palavras-chave: cuidado paternal, fecundidade, fertilidade, anfípodas, estuário.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproduction and food habits of the lined seahorse, Hippocampus erectus (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) of Chesapeake Bay, Virginia

Teixeira¹,

Musick

2001

Rev. Bras. Biol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…(1.65-1.85 in head) and shorter snout-to-head lengths distinguish S. fuscus (2-2.5 in head; Murdy, Birdsong & Musick, 2002;Teixeira & Musick, 1995;Herald, 1965;Breder, 1929). Accordingly, S. floridae in the Chesapeake Bay region prefer to prey upon various sized grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio), while S. fuscus appear to be more gape-limited, only feeding on small crustaceans (Teixeira & Musick, 1995;Ryer & Orth, 1987;Ryer & Boehlert, 1983).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Brooding S. fuscus and S. floridae males, along with other pipefish species, have been shown to feed less than conspecific gravid females (Teixeira & Musick, 1995;Steffe, Westoby & Bell, 1989;Svensson, 1988). To eliminate this potential source of variation, we used only non-brooding males in this study.…”

Section: Study Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Influence of estuarine hypoxia on feeding and sound production by two sympatric pipefish species (Syngnathidae)

Ripley

Foran

2007

Marine Environmental Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

. Influence of estuarine hypoxia on feeding and sound production by two sympatric pipefish species (Syngnathidae). Marine Environmental Research, Elsevier, 2007, 63 (4) ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT2 AbstractThis research utilizes the acoustic behavior of two sympatric pipefish species to assess the impact of hypoxia on feeding. We collected northern, Syngnathus fuscus, and dusky pipefishes, Syngnathus floridae, from the relatively pristine Chincoteague Bay, Virginia, USAand audiovisually recorded behavior in the laboratory of fish held in normoxic (> 5 mg/L O 2 ) and hypoxic (2 and 1 mg/L O 2 ) conditions. Both species produced high frequency (~ 0.9 -1.4 kHz), short duration (3 -22 msec) clicks. Feeding strikes were significantly correlated with both wet weight of ingested food and click production. Thus, sound production serves as an accurate measure of feeding activity. In hypoxic conditions, reduced food intake corresponded with decreased sound production. Significant declines in both behaviors were evident after 1 day and continued as long as hypoxic conditions were maintained. Interspecific differences in sensitivity were detected. Specifically, S. floridae showed a tendency to perform head snaps at the surface.Syngnathus fuscus exhibited a breakdown in the coupling of sound production with food intake in 2 mg/L O 2 with clicks produced in other contexts, particularly choking and food expulsion.Reductions in feeding will ultimately impact growth, health, and eventually reproduction as resources are devoted to survival instead of gamete production and courtship. This work suggests acoustic monitoring of field sites with adverse environmental conditions may reflect changes in feeding behavior in addition to population dispersal.

show abstract

Morphological variation in head shape of pipefishes and seahorses in relation to snout length and developmental growth

Leysen

Roos

Adriaens

2011

Journal of Morphology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The feeding apparatus of Syngnathidae, with its elongate tubular snout and tiny, toothless jaws, is highly specialized for performing fast and powerful pivot feeding. In addition, the prolonged syngnathid parental care probably enables the juveniles to be provided with a feeding apparatus that resembles the one in adults, both in morphology and function. In this study, a landmark-based geometric morphometric analysis was carried out on the head of syngnathid representatives in order to (1) examine to what degree pipefish shape variation is different from that of seahorses; (2) determine whether the high level of specialization reduces the amount of intraspecific morphological variation found within the family; and (3) elucidate whether or not important shape changes occur in the seahorse head during postrelease ontogeny. We found that (1) there is a significant shape difference between head shape of pipefish and seahorse: the main differences concern snout length and height, position and orientation of the pectoral fin base, and height of the head and opercular bone. We hypothesize that this might be related to different prey capture kinematics (long snout with little head rotation versus short snout with large head rotation) and to different body postures (in line with the head versus vertical with a tilted head) in pipefishes and seahorses; (2) both pipefishes and seahorses showed an inverse relation between relative snout length and intraspecific variation and although pipefishes show a large diversity in relative snout elongation, they are more constrained in terms of head shape; and (3) the head of juvenile Hippocampus reidi specimens still undergoes gradual shape changes after being expelled from the brood pouch. Ontogenetic changes include lowering of the snout and head but also differences in orientation of the preopercular bone and lowering of the snout tip.

show abstract

Trophic ecology of two congeneric pipefishes (Syngnathidae) of the lower York River, Virginia

Cited by 40 publications

References 22 publications

Reproduction and food habits of the lined seahorse, Hippocampus erectus (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) of Chesapeake Bay, Virginia

Reproduction and food habits of the lined seahorse, Hippocampus erectus (Teleostei: Syngnathidae) of Chesapeake Bay, Virginia

Influence of estuarine hypoxia on feeding and sound production by two sympatric pipefish species (Syngnathidae)

Morphological variation in head shape of pipefishes and seahorses in relation to snout length and developmental growth

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About