Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia
https://actalb.org/article/doi/10.1590/S2179-975X7819
Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia
Original Article

Gut content analysis confirms the feeding plasticity of a generalist fish species in a tropical river

Análise do conteúdo estomacal confirma a plasticidade alimentar de uma espécie de peixe generalista em um rio tropical

Igor David Costa; Ronaldo Angelini

Downloads: 0
Views: 1251

Abstract

Abstract:

Aim: In this paper, we compared the diet composition of the South American silver croaker, Plasgioscion squamosissimus in preserved and impacted areas (agrarian land use) of an Amazonian river. Our objective was to quantify the plasticity in diet across different habitats and evaluate the importance of a carnivorous generalist species as an environmental indicator based on its feeding variation.

Methods: We analysed the stomach contents of 135 individuals and compared the trophic level of P. squamosissimus and the source of ingested food items in the impacted and non-impacted habitats.

Results: The trophic level values in both areas were similar. In both areas, P. squamosissimus used a wide variety of food items, consuming mainly fish and invertebrates of autochthonous origin. However, in terms of composition of food items, small pelagic fish and autochthonous items were more frequently consumed in the preserved area, while in the impacted area fish and benthic invertebrates were predominant in the diet.

Conclusions: Our gut analysis suggests plasticity in P. squamosissimus diet across varying areas, which point to the ability of P. squamosissimus to modify their diet in the impacted situation, utilizing more benthic material on impacted area in order to maintain a similar trophic position.

Keywords

carnivorous, diet plasticity, trophic ecology, diet composition, Machado River (Brazil)

Resumo

Resumo:

Objetivo: Neste artigo, comparamos a composição da dieta da pescada branca Plasgioscion squamosissimus em áreas preservadas e impactadas (área agrária) de um rio amazônico, a fim de quantificar a plasticidade trófica em diferentes habitats e avaliar a importância de uma espécie carnívora generalista como um indicador ambiental baseado em sua variação alimentar.

Métodos: Analisamos o conteúdo estomacal de 135 indivíduos e comparamos o nível trófico de P. squamosissimus e a origem dos itens alimentares nos habitats impactados e preservados.

Resultados: Os valores do nível trófico em ambas as áreas foram semelhantes. Nas duas áreas, P. squamosissimus utilizou uma grande variedade de itens alimentares, consumindo principalmente peixes e invertebrados de origem autóctone. No entanto, em relação à composição dos itens alimentares, pequenos peixes pelágicos e itens autóctones foram consumidos com maior frequência na área preservada, enquanto na área impactada predominaram os peixes e invertebrados bentônicos na dieta.

Conclusões: Nossa análise intestinal sugere a plasticidade na dieta de P. squamosissimus em diferentes áreas, sendo útil apontar a capacidade de P. squamosissimus de modificar sua dieta na situação impactada, utilizando mais material bentônico na área impactada, a fim de manter uma posição trófica semelhante.
 

Palavras-chave

carnívoro, plasticidade alimentar, ecologia trófica, composição da dieta, rio Machado (Brasil)

References

BAKER, R., BUCKLAND, A. and SHEAVES, M. Fish gut content analysis: robust measures of diet composition. Fish and Fisheries, 2014, 15(1), 170-177. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/faf.12026.

BARROS, L.C., SANTOS, U., ZANUNCIO, J.C. and DERGAM, J.A. Plagioscion squamosissimus (Sciaenidae) and Parachromis managuensis (Cichlidae): A threat to native fishes of the Doce River in Minas Gerais, Brazil. PLoS One, 2012, 7(6), e39138. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0039138. PMid:22720053.

BARTLEY, T.J., MCCANN, K.S., BIEG, C., CAZELLES, K., GRANADOS, M., GUZZO, M.M., MACDOUGALL, A.S., TUNNEY, T.D. and MCMEANS, B.C. Food web rewiring in a changing world. Nature Research Ecology & Evolution Community, 2019, 3(3), 345-354. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0772-3. PMid:30742106.

BENNEMANN, S.T. and SHIBATTA, O.A. Dinâmica de uma assembleia de peixes do rio Tibagi: a bacia do rio Tibagi. Londrina: Eduel, 2002.

BENNEMANN, S.T., CAPRA, L.G., GALVES, W. and SHIBATTA, O.A. Dinâmica trófica de Plagioscion squamosissimus (Perciformes, Sciaenidae) em trechos de influência da represa Capivara (rios Paranapanema e Tibagi). Iheringia. Série Zoologia, 2006, 96(4), 115-119. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0073-47212006000100020.

BENNEMANN, S.T., GALVES, W. and CAPRA, L.G. Recursos alimentares utilizados pelos peixes e estrutura trófica de quatro trechos no reservatório Capivara (Rio Paranapanema). Biota Neotropica, 2011, 11(2), 1-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1676-06032011000100006.

BENNEMANN, S.T., SHIBATTA, O.A. and GARAVELLO, J.C. Peixes do rio Tibagi: uma abordagem ecológica. Londrina: Eduel; 2000.

BORNATOWSKI, H., NAVIA, A.F., BRAGA, R.R., ABILHOA, V. and CORRÊA, M.F.M. Ecological importance of sharks and rays in a structural food web analysis in southern Brazil. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 2014, 7(3), 1586-1592. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsu025.

BRASIL. Ministério do Meio Ambiente – MMA. Reserva biológica do Jaru. Porto Velho: Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade, 2010.

CARVALHO, R.A. and TEJERINA-GARRO, F.L. Environmental and spatial processes: what controls the functional structure of fish assemblages in tropical rivers and headwater streams? Ecology Freshwater Fish, 2015, 24(2), 317-328. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eff.12152.

CASATTI, L., TERESA, F.B., GONÇALVES-SOUZA, T., BESSA, E., MANZOTTI, A.R., GONÇALVES, C.D.S. and ZENI, J.D.O. From forests to cattail: how does the riparian zone influence stream fish? Neotropical Ichthyology, 2012, 10(1), 205-214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1679-62252012000100020.

CORREA, S.B. and WINEMILLER, K.O. Niche partitioning among frugivorous fishes in response to fluctuating resources in the Amazonian floodplain forest. Ecology, 2014, 95(1), 210-224. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/13-0393.1. PMid:24649660.

DANTAS, D., CALIMAN, A., GUARIENTO, R., ANGELINI, R., CARNEIRO, L., LIMA, S., MARTINEZ, P. and ATTAYDE, J. Climate effects on fish body size-trophic position relationship depend on ecosystem type. Ecography, 2019, 42(9), 1-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04307.

DRENNER, R.W. and HAMBRIGHT, R.K.D. Piscivores, trophic cascades, and lake management. The Scientific World Journal, 2002, 2, 284-307. http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2002.138. PMid:12806017.

FERREIRA, A., PAULA, F.R., FERRAZ, S.F.B., GERHARD, P., KASHIWACHI, E.A.L., CYRINO, J.E.P. and MARTINELLI, L.A. Riparian coverage affects diets of characids in Neotropical streams. Ecology Freshwater Fish, 2012, 21(3), 12-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0633.2011.00518.x.

FREDERICO, R.G., OLDEN, J.D. and ZUANON, J. Climate change sensitivity of threatened, and largely unprotected, Amazonian fishes. Aquatic Conservation, 2016, 26(2), 91-102. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.2658.

FROESE, R. and PAULY, D. FishBase [online]. 2019 [viewed 6 June 2019]. Available from: http://www.fishbase.org

GOULDING, M., BARTHEM, R. and FERREIRA, E. The Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 2003.

GUBIANI, E.A., GOMES, L.C., AGOSTINHO, A.A. and OKADA, E.K. Persistence of fish populations in the upper Paraná River: effects of water regulation by dams. Ecology Freshwater Fish, 2007, 16(3), 191-197. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0633.2006.00211.x.

HAHN, N.S., ADRIAN, I.F., FUGI, R. and ALMEIDA, V.L.L. Ecologia trófica. In: A.E.A.M. VAZZOLER, A.A. AGOSTINHO and N.S. HAHN, eds. A planície de inundação do alto rio Paraná: aspectos físicos, biológicos e socioeconômicos. 1. ed. Maringá: EDUEM, 1997, pp. 209-228.

HAHN, N.S., LOUREIRO, V.E. and DELARIVA, R.L. Atividade alimentar de curvina Plagioscion squamosissimus (Heckel, 1840) (Perciformes, Sciaenidae) no rio Paraná. Acta Scientiarum. Biological Sciences, 1999, 21(2), 309-314.

HAMADA, N. and FERREIRA-KEPPLER, R.L. Guia ilustrado de insetos aquáticos e semiaquáticos da Reserva Florestal Ducke. Manaus: Editora da Universidade Federal do Amazonas, 2012.

HAMADA, N., NESSIMIAN, J.L. and QUERINO, R.B. Insetos aquáticos na Amazônia brasileira: taxonomia, biologia e ecologia. Manaus: Editora do INPA, 2014.

HAMMER, O., HARPER, D.A.T. and RYAN, P.D. PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Paleotolongia Eletronica, 2001, 4(1), 1-9.

HELLAWELL, J.M. and ABEL, R. A rapid volumetric method for the analysis of the food of fishes. Journal of Fish Biology, 1971, 3(1), 29-37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1971.tb05903.x.

HYSLOP, E.J. Stomach contents analysis – a review of methods and their application. Journal of Fish Biology, 1980, 17(1), 411-429. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1980.tb02775.x.

INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE GEOGRAFIA E ESTATÍSTICA – IBGE. Manual técnico da vegetação brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE, 1992.

INSTITUTO CHICO MENDES DE CONSERVAÇÃO DA BIODIVERSIDADE – ICMBIO. Plano de manejo da reserva biológica do Jaru. Brasília: Instituto de Pesca, 2010.

JENNINGS, S. and KAISER, M.J. The effects of fishing on marine ecosystems. Advances in Marine Biology, 1998, 34, 203-352. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2881(08)60212-6.

KAWAKAMI, E. and VAZZOLER, G. Método gráfico e estimativa de índice alimentar aplicado no estudo de alimentação de peixes. Boletim do Instituto Oceanográfico, 1980, 29(2), 205-207. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0373-55241980000200043.

KRUSCHE, A.V., BALLESTER, M.V.R., VICTORIA, R.L., BERNARDES, M.C., LEITE, N.K., HANADA, L., VICTORIA, D.C., TOLEDO, A.M., OMETTO, J.P., MOREIRA, M.Z., GOMES, B.M., BOLSON, M.A., GOUVEIA NETO, S., BONELLI, N., DEEGAN, L., NEILL, C., THOMAS, S., AUFDENKAMPE, A.K. and RICHEY, J.E. Efeitos das mudanças do uso da terra na biogeoquímica dos corpos d’água da bacia do rio Ji-Paraná, Rondônia. Acta Amazonica, 2005, 35(2), 197-205. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0044-59672005000200009.

LORION, C.M. and KENNEDY, B.P. Relationships between deforestation, riparian forest buffers and benthic macroinvertebrates in neotropical headwater streams. Freshwater Biology, 2009, 54(1), 165-180. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2008.02092.x.

LOWE-MCCONNELL, R.H. Estudos ecológicos de comunidades de peixes tropicais. São Paulo: Edusp, 1999.

MANNA, L.R., REZENDE, C.F. and MAZZONI, R. Plasticity in the diet of Astyanax taeniatus in a coastal stream from south-east Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology = Revista Brasileira de Biologia, 2012, 72(2), 919-928. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1519-69842012000500020. PMid:23295523.

MOYLE, P.B.C. and CECH, J.J. Fishes: an introduction to ichthyology. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 2004.

NEVES, M.P., DELARIVA, R.L., GUIMARÃES, A.T.B. and SANCHES, P.V. Carnivory during ontogeny of the Plagioscion squamosissimus: a successful non-native fish in a lentic environment of the Upper Paraná River Basin. PLoS One, 2015, 10(1), e0141651. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141651. PMid:26524336.

PAULY, D. and CHRISTENSEN, V. Primary production required to sustain global fisheries. Nature, 1995, 374(6519), 255-257. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/374255a0.

PINTO, B.C.T. and ARAÚJO, F.G. Assessing of biotic integrity of the fish community in a heavily impacted segment of a tropical river in Brazil. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology, 2007, 50(1), 489-502. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1516-89132007000300015.

PUSEY, B.J. and ARTHINGTON, A.H. Importance of the riparian zone to the conservation and management of freshwater fish: a review. Marine and Freshwater Research, 2003, 54(2), 1-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF02041.

R DEVELOPMENT CORE TEAM. R: a language and environment for statistical computing, version 3.5.2. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing, 2018 [viewed 1 June 2018]. Available from: http://www.R-project.org

ROCHA, A.A.F., SANTOS, N.C.L., MEDEIROS, T.N. and SEVERI, W. Relações tróficas entre Acestrorhynchus britskii (nativa) e Plagioscion squamosissimus (introduzida) em sistema de reservatórios em cascata. Boletim do Instituto de Pesca, 2015, 41(3), 917-930.

ROSI-MARSHALL, E.J., VALLIS, K.L., BAXTER, C.V. and DAVIS, J.M. Retesting a prediction of the River Continuum Concept: autochthonous versus allochthonous resources in the diets of invertebrates. Freshwater Science, 2016, 35(2), 534-543. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/686302.

SANTOS, G., FERREIRA, E. and ZUANON, J. Peixes comerciais de Manaus. Manaus: Pro-Varzea, 2006.

SANTOS, N.C.L., DO NASCIMENTO, M.T., ROCHA, A.A.F., DIAS, R.M. and SEVERI, W. Uso de recursos alimentares por Plagioscion squamosissimus-piscívoro não-nativo no reservatório de Sobradinho-BA, Brasil. Boletim do Instituto de Pesca, 2016, 40(1), 397-408.

SCHNEIDER, K.N. and WINEMILLER, K.O. Structural complexity of woody debris patches influences fish and macroinvertebrate species richness in a temperate floodplain-river system. Hydrobiologia, 2008, 610(1), 235-244. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10750-008-9438-5.

SEALIFEBASE [online]. 2018 [viewed 1 June 2018]. Available from: http://sealifebase.org

VAN DER LEE, A.S. and KOOPS, M.A. Are small fishes more sensitive to habitat loss? A generic size-based model. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 2015, 72(2), 1-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2015-0026.

WHITEHOUSE, G.A., BUCKLEY, T.W. and DANIELSON, S.L. Diet compositions and trophic guild structure of the eastern Chukchi Sea demersal fish community. Deep-sea Research. Part II, Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2017, 135(1), 95-110. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.03.010.

WOODSON, C.B., SCHRAMSKI, J.R. and JOYE, S.B.A. Unifying theory for top-heavy ecosystem structure in the ocean. Nature Communications, 2018, 9(1), 442-453. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02450-y. PMid:29295998.

WUNDERLICH, A.C., SILVA, R.J., ZICA, E.O., REBELO, M.F., PARENTE, T.E. and VIDAL-MARTÍNEZ, V.M. The influence of seasonality, fish size and reproductive status on EROD activity in Plagioscion squamosissimus: Implications for biomonitoring of tropical/subtropical reservoirs. Ecological Indicators, 2015, 58(2), 267-276. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.05.063.

ZAR, J.H. Biostatistical analysis. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.

ZENI, J.O. and CASATTI, L. The influence of habitat homogenization on the trophic structure of fish fauna in tropical streams. Hydrobiologia, 2014, 726(2), 259-270. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1772-6.

ZENI, J.O., PÉREZ‐MAYORGA, M.A., ROA‐FUENTES, C.A., BREJÃO, G.L. and CASATTI, L. How deforestation drives stream habitat changes and the functional structure of fish assemblages in different tropical regions. Aquatic Conservation, 2019, 38(1), 1-15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3128.
 


Submitted date:
09/16/2019

Accepted date:
07/07/2020

Publication date:
08/31/2020

5f4cf62b0e88259462b9f0d2 alb Articles
Links & Downloads

Acta Limnol. Bras. (Online)

Share this page
Page Sections