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Dissolved ions mediate body mass gain and predatory response of an invasive fish

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Abstract

Ecological impacts of invasive species are mediated by the environmental characteristics of the invaded habitats. The invasive round goby Neogobius melanostomus is a brackish-water adapted invader with high predatory and competitive impacts on native communities. We test the hypothesis that both body mass gain and predation rates of the round goby are reduced in low-dissolved ion waters in which they can establish, using calcium (Ca2+) as a focal ion of great importance to the physiology of aquatic animals. Round gobies were first acclimated for 36 days on a diet of shrimp pellets in either high (35 mg L−1) or low (12 mg L−1) Ca2+ concentration [Ca]. We then assessed the functional response (FR)—the relationship between predation rate and prey supply—of the round goby from high and low [Ca] on amphipod prey in either condition. Round gobies in high [Ca] consumed more pellets during the acclimation period and gained more mass compared to fish in low-[Ca] conditions. Functional response experiments revealed that round gobies at high-[Ca] levels for both acclimation and FR experiments had the highest predatory impact, whereas fish in low-[Ca] FR treatments had similarly low predation rates regardless of acclimation [Ca]. In a second experiment, non-acclimated round gobies had a higher FR on mayfly nymph prey at high [Ca] than fish at low-[Ca] levels. Our results indicate that the round goby has stronger ecological impacts in conditions that are more physiologically optimal for the species. Identifying key physico-chemical factors that mediate impacts of invaders would help prioritize habitats for management attention.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Rachael Ryan, Sandrine Vigneron and Jean-Michel Matte for assistance with the experiments. This research was funded by the Canadian Aquatic Invasive Species Network and by a Discovery Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to A.R. Additional support was provided by the Group for Interuniversity Research in Limnology and Aquatic Environment (to J.C.I.).

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  1. Group for Interuniversity Research in Limnology and Aquatic Environment, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A OC4, Canada

    Josephine C. Iacarella & Anthony Ricciardi

  2. Redpath Museum and Department of Biology, McGill University, 859 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC, H3A OC4, Canada

    Josephine C. Iacarella & Anthony Ricciardi

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  1. Josephine C. Iacarella
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Correspondence to Anthony Ricciardi.

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Iacarella, J.C., Ricciardi, A. Dissolved ions mediate body mass gain and predatory response of an invasive fish. Biol Invasions 17, 3237–3246 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-015-0949-5

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