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Factors involved in prey resource partitioning in the genus Artedidraco (Notothenioidei, Artedidraconidae) from the western Ross Sea

  • BIOLOGY OF THE ROSS SEA
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Abstract

Antarctic plunderfishes are demersal species inhabiting the continental shelf of the Ross Sea, with sympatric distributions and similar morphology. Assuming these species are potential competitors for food, we aimed to quantify food overlap among them and to test the existence of factors involved in prey resource partitioning. Dietary composition and feeding niche breadth were estimated through stomach contents analysis of some species of Artedidraco sampled in the western Ross Sea. The fish community consisted of a wide range of feeders, from specialists like A. glareobarbatus and A. shackletoni, which fed exclusively on epifaunal polychaetes, to generalists like A. loennbergi and A. skottsbergi, which fed on a variety of prey. Although all species relied exclusively on benthic prey, diet diversity and prey type largely differed from each other, both contributing to reduce prey overlap and food competition. In a few cases, relatively high food overlap was observed between species with different spatial distributions. Based on our data and on previous studies, prey resource partitioning in plunderfishes is therefore established through morphological and behavioural adaptations, either by differential development of sense organs and trophic structures or by different diet composition and spatial distribution within the shared benthic habitat.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all crew members, personnel and scientific staff aboard of RV Italica for their support in sampling activities. We are also much indebted to Angelika Brandt, Ute Mühlenhardt-Siegel and Jurgen Guererro-Kommritz for taxonomic identification of prey. Finally, we thank two anonymous reviewers and the Editor-in-chief whose comments greatly improved the earlier draft of the manuscript. JT Eastman was supported by the National Science Foundation grant ANT-0436190. The study was financially supported by the PNRA (Italian National Antarctic Research Program).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNR, Istituto di Scienze Marine, Sede di Ancona, Largo Fiera della Pesca 1, 60125, Ancona, Italy

    Mario La Mesa

  2. Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa, Via Derna 1, 56124, Pisa, Italy

    Alberto Castelli

  3. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, 45701-2979, USA

    Joseph T. Eastman

  4. Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Padova, Via U. Bassi 58/B, 35131, Padua, Italy

    Emilio Riginella

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  1. Mario La Mesa
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  2. Alberto Castelli
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  3. Joseph T. Eastman
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  4. Emilio Riginella
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Correspondence to Mario La Mesa.

Additional information

Guest editors: Diego Fontaneto & Stefano Schiaparelli / Biology of the Ross Sea and Surrounding Areas in Antarctica

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La Mesa, M., Castelli, A., Eastman, J.T. et al. Factors involved in prey resource partitioning in the genus Artedidraco (Notothenioidei, Artedidraconidae) from the western Ross Sea. Hydrobiologia 761, 249–259 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2206-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-015-2206-4

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