Trophic overlap between cohabiting populations of invasive mosquitofish and an endangered toothcarp at changing salinity conditions

Ruiz‐Navarro, Ana; Torralva, Mar; Paterna, Francisco José Oliva

doi:10.3354/ab00512

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(28 reference statements)

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“…Furthermore, the variations of the invasive/native species ratio and of salinity in the three wetland sections were much more pronounced, compared to those in the two Greek habitats. Nevertheless, Ruiz-Navarro et al (2013) reached the same conclusion with the authors of the current study, namely that the native species could be subjected to a decrease in its population viability, as a direct consequence of trophic competition with the invasive species.…”

Section: Underlying Mechanisms Of Interspecies Interactionssupporting

confidence: 67%

“…The current study, by exploring trophic overlap in a comparative context and simultaneously assessing differential prey availability, is to our knowledge the first to present concrete evidence of a resource mediated trophic competition between a widespread non native fish species and an endemic species. In contrast, a recent study on the diet of the mosquitofish and its co-occuring A. Iberus in three sections of an Iberian wetland, correlated their trophic overlap not to prey availability, but to mosquitofish relative abundance as well as salinity, which is in turn related to mosquitofish aggression (Ruiz-Navarro et al, 2013). In this wetland, however, there were no marked differences in prey availability among the three sections studied, in contrast to the two Greek rivers studied here.…”

Section: Underlying Mechanisms Of Interspecies Interactionscontrasting

confidence: 49%

“…Furthermore, the few diet competition studies in systems of this region have been descriptive, providing only potential competition evidence with native species. In addition, few studies calculated diet overlap indexes (Lorenzoni et al, 2002;Teixera & Cortes, 2006) and, to our knowledge, only a recent study also assessed dietary selectivity and resource availability (Ruiz-Navarro et al, 2013; for an overview see Ribeiro & Leunda, 2012). This gap in our knowledge is crucial, since ecological interactions between non native and native freshwater species can be context-specific and may vary across different aquatic ecosystem types, ecological conditions and/or fish community characteristics (Leunda, 2010;Ribeiro & Leunda, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Prey utilisation and trophic overlap between the non native mosquitofish and a native fish in two Mediterranean rivers

et al. 2014

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Non native freshwater fish species have been long implicated in the decline of native Mediterranean ichthyofauna, through hybridization, disease transmission, competition for food and habitat, predation and/or ecosystem alteration; our knowledge, however, on the underlying mechanisms of these ecological impacts remains very limited. To explore the potential for trophic competition between the widespread Eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki and its co-occurring native toothcarp Valencia letourneuxi we compared resource use, feeding strategies, trophic selectivities and diet niche overlap. For this purpose, we studied two populations of the two species from a freshwater and a brackish habitat respectively, characterized by different food resource availabilities. In both habitats, the mosquitofish consumed a greater diversity of invertebrates and preyed on terrestrial invertebrates more frequently than the native toothcarp. Furthermore, in the less diverse and less rich brackish habitat, the non native relied heavily on plant material to balance a decrease in animal prey consumption and modified its individual feeding strategy, whereas these adaptive changes were not apparent in the native species. Their diet overlapped, indicating trophic competition, but this overlap was affected by resource availability variation; in the freshwater habitat, there was limited overlap in their diet, whereas in the brackish habitat, their diets and prey selectivities converged and there was high overlap in resource use, indicative of intense interspecific trophic competition. Overall, it appears that the underlying mechanism of the putative negative impacts of the mosquitofish on the declining Corfu toothcarp is mainly trophic competition, regulated by resource variability, though there is also evidence of larvae predation by the mosquitofish.

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Section: Underlying Mechanisms Of Interspecies Interactionssupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Underlying Mechanisms Of Interspecies Interactionscontrasting

confidence: 49%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Prey utilisation and trophic overlap between the non native mosquitofish and a native fish in two Mediterranean rivers

et al. 2014

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“…This small-sized invader is an important food source of piscivorous birds (Zogaris per obs. ); however, it may adversely affect the native Mediterranean toothcarp due to the common dietary demands and competition (Kalogianni et al 2012;Ruiz-Navarro et al 2013). The European Eel Anguilla anguilla is one of the most important species of Koumoundourou Lake and was formerly abundant in the lagoon (Kousouris et al 1994;Strubberg 1923).…”

Section: Ichthyofaunamentioning

confidence: 97%

Integrated ecological assessment and restoration planning in a heavily modified peri-urban Mediterranean lagoon

2016

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An integrated ecological assessment and restoration plan has been developed for Koumoundourou Lake, a heavily modified peri-urban lagoon near Athens, Greece. After the construction of an artificial weir on the coastal lagoon's canal outlet with Elefsina Bay, the water quality has improved and a short-term decrease in heavy metal concentrations in sediments is noted, which indicates a slow amelioration during the last decade. Nevertheless, the weir construction since the mid-1990s has changed the hydrological conditions of the wetland; it inevitably blocked marine fish movement and extirpated several fish species, while the area occupied by submerged aquatic vegetation has expanded due to the reduction in the lagoon water's salinity. In order to maintain the improved water quality and ecological potential of Koumoundourou Lake, the construction of a fish pass within the sluice is recommended that would allow the free passage of fishes (particularly gray mullet mugilidae). Although this is expected to affect the current hydraulic conditions of the lagoon and may increase the salinity and slightly decrease the time renewal of the water, the lagoon's ecological potential is expected to improve as the food web will be enriched.

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“…Overall, a strong competitive impact of G. holbrooki on native species has been well documented in a variety of ecosystems (Alcaraz et al, 2008;MacDonald et al, 2012;Ruiz-Navarro et al, 2013). In particular, laboratory and field studies demonstrated the influence of abiotic factors in shaping the performance of mosquitofish, including the competitive effects on native species (Rincón et al, 2002;Blanco et al, 2004;Carmona-Catot et al, 2013;Ruiz-Navarro et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coexisting with the alien: Evidence for environmental control on trophic interactions between a native (Atherina boyeri) and a non-indigenous fish species (Gambusia holbrooki) in a Mediterranean coastal ecosystem

Andolina

Signa²,

Cilluffo³

et al. 2022

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Biological invasions are a widespread problem worldwide, as invasive non-indigenous species (NIS) may affect native populations through direct (e. g., predation) or indirect (e.g., competition) trophic interactions, leading to changes in the food web structure. The trophic relationships of the invasive eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki and the native big-scale sand smelt Atherina boyeri coexisting in three Mediterranean coastal ponds characterized by different trophic statuses (from oligotrophic to hypereutrophic) were assessed in spring through isotopic niche analysis and Bayesian mixing models. The two fish relied on the distinctive trophic pathways in the different ponds, with the evidence of minimal interspecific niche overlap indicating site-specific niche divergence mechanisms. In more detail, under hypereutrophic and mesotrophic conditions, the two species occupied different trophic positions but relying on a single trophic pathway, whereas, under oligotrophic conditions, both occupied a similar trophic position but belonging to distinct trophic pathways. Furthermore, the invaders showed the widest niche breadth while the native species showed a niche compression and displacement in the ponds at a higher trophic status compared to the oligotrophic pond. We argue that this may be the result of an asymmetric competition arising between the two species because of the higher competitive ability of G. holbrooki and may have been further shaped by the trophic status of the ponds, through a conjoint effect of prey availability and habitat complexity. While the high trophic plasticity and adaptability of both species to different environmental features and resource availability may have favored their coexistence through site-specific mechanisms of niche segregation, we provide also empirical evidence of the importance of environmental control in invaded food webs, calling for greater attention to this aspect in future studies.

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Trophic overlap between cohabiting populations of invasive mosquitofish and an endangered toothcarp at changing salinity conditions

Cited by 7 publications

References 44 publications

Prey utilisation and trophic overlap between the non native mosquitofish and a native fish in two Mediterranean rivers

Prey utilisation and trophic overlap between the non native mosquitofish and a native fish in two Mediterranean rivers

Integrated ecological assessment and restoration planning in a heavily modified peri-urban Mediterranean lagoon

Coexisting with the alien: Evidence for environmental control on trophic interactions between a native (Atherina boyeri) and a non-indigenous fish species (Gambusia holbrooki) in a Mediterranean coastal ecosystem

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