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Native fish larvae take advantage of introduced mussel larvae: field evidence of feeding preferences on veligers of the introduced freshwater bivalve Limnoperna fortunei

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Abstract

Previous work has shown that the invasive bivalve Limnoperna fortunei has had a measurable impact on local food webs, but knowledge of the trophic interactions involved is still very limited. On the basis of samples collected along the lower Paraguay-middle Paraná rivers, we studied the feeding behavior and selectivity of larval fish, with emphasis on veligers of the introduced bivalve L. fortunei. Among feeding larvae (i.e., without a yolk sac), 16.5% had only Limnoperna veligers in their guts, while 15.6% had veligers and some other prey. Half of the fish taxa recorded (8 out of a total of 16) consumed Limnoperna veligers. The Paraguay and Paraná rivers differed strongly in the proportions of fish larvae that consumed veligers: 14 and 68%, respectively. This difference paralleled the availability of veligers in the water column, which was significantly lower in the Paraguay (0.8 ± 0.5 ind. l−1) than in the Paraná River (5.5 ± 2.3 ind. l−1). Conversely, cladocerans, originally the staple food of fish larvae, were more abundant in the Paraguay (consumed by 48% of the individuals) than in the Paraná River (26%). These results indicate that, when widely available, Limnoperna veligers largely replace the original prey of fish larvae, especially in their younger stages (protolarvae).

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Acknowledgements

Esteban M. Paolucci was supported by a fellowship of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) to carry out this investigation. This work was financed by Grants from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina (UBA X-020 and 20020100100035) and from the Argentine Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, Argentina (PICT 2007 1968) to DB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’ (CONICET-MACN), Av. Angel Gallardo 490, C1405DJR, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Esteban M. Paolucci & Demetrio Boltovskoy

  2. IEGEBA (CONICET-UBA), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Esteban M. Paolucci, Pablo Almada, Daniel H. Cataldo & Demetrio Boltovskoy

  3. Prefectura Naval Argentina, Ministerio de Seguridad, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

    Pablo Almada

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  1. Esteban M. Paolucci
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  2. Pablo Almada
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Correspondence to Esteban M. Paolucci.

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Paolucci, E.M., Almada, P., Cataldo, D.H. et al. Native fish larvae take advantage of introduced mussel larvae: field evidence of feeding preferences on veligers of the introduced freshwater bivalve Limnoperna fortunei . Hydrobiologia 745, 211–224 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-2108-x

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