Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Variation in resource abundance affects diet and feeding morphology in the pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus)

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

The pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus Linnaeus; Centrarchidae) feeds extensively on molluscs, crushing them between its pharyngeal jaws. To address whether differences in mollusc availability might affect pumpkinseed diet and jaw morphology, we collected pumpkinseed from six Wisconsin lakes that varied in mollusc abundance and diversity. The percentage of molluscs in the diet increased directly with mollusc abundance. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between the mass of the pumpkinseed's main crushing muscle, the levator posterior, and the percentage of molluscs in the diet. These data support our previous work in two Michigan lakes showing that pumpkinseed pharyngeal jaws were more robust, and mollusc crushing performance improved, in a lake with higher mollusc densities. The combined Wisconsin and Michigan data exhibit a single relationship between levator posterior mass and percentage of molluscs eaten. Taken together, these studies demonstrate strong, functional relationships between prey availability, diet, morphology, and feeding performance, and suggest how morphology and feeding efficiency may evolve in response to variation in resource density.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andrews LM, Threinen CW (1966) Surface waters of Oneida county. Wisconsin Conservation Dept, Madison

    Google Scholar 

  • Black JJ, Andrews LM, Threinen CW (1963) Surface waters of Vilas county. Wisconsin Conservation Dept, Madison

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowder LB (1984) Character displacement and habitat shift in a native cisco in southern lake Michigan: evidence for competition. Copeia 1984(4):878–883

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehlinger TJ, Wilson DS (1988) Complex foraging polymorphism in the bluegill sunfish. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 85:1878–1882

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant PR (1987) Ecology and evolution of Darwin's finches. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood PH (1965) Environmental effects on the pharyngeal mill of a cichlid fish, Astatoreochromis alluaudi and their taxonomic implications. Proc Linn Soc Lond 176:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Hindar K, Jonsson B (1982) Habitat and food segregation of dwarf and normal Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) from Vangsvatnet Lake, western Norway. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 39:1030–1045

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoogerhoud RJC (1986) Ecological morphology of some cichlid fishes. Ph.D. thesis, Leiden, The Netherlands

  • Hoogerhoud RJC (1989) Prey processing and predator morphology in molluscivorous cichlid fishes. Fortschritte der Zoologie. Prog Zool 35:19–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Kornfield IL, Smith DC, Gagnon PS, Taylor JN (1982) The cichlid fish of Cuatro Cienegas Mexico: direct evidence of conspecificity among distinct trophic morphs. Evolution 36:658–664

    Google Scholar 

  • Lauder GV (1983a) Functional and morphological bases of trophic specialization in sunfishes (Teleostei, Centrarchidae). J Morph 178:1–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Lauder GV (1983b) Neuromuscular patterns and the origin of trophic specialization in fishes. Science 219:1235–1237

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavin PA, McPhail JD (1985) The evolution of freshwater diversity in the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Can J Zool 63:2632–2638

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavin PA, McPhail JD (1986) Adaptive divergence of trophic phenotype among freshwater populations of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 43:2455–2463

    Google Scholar 

  • Leim KF, Kaufman LS (1984) Intraspecific macroevolution: functional biology of the polymorphic cichlid species Cichlasoma minckley. In: Echelle AA, Kornfield I (eds) Evolution of fish species flocks. Univ. of Maine at Orono Press, Orono, pp 203–215

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindsey CC (1981) Stocks are chameleons: plasticity in gill rakes of coregonid fishes. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 38:1497–1506

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe-McConnell RH (1987) Ecological studies in tropical fish communities. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Magnan P (1988) Interactions between brook char, Salvelinus fontinalis, and nonsalmonid species: ecological shift, morphological shift, and their impact on zooplankton communities. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 45:999–1009

    Google Scholar 

  • Merritt RW, Cummins KW (1984) An introduction to the aquatic insects of North America. Second edition. Kendal/Hunt, Dubuque, IA

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer A (1987) Phenotypic plasticity and heterochrony in Cichlasoma managuense (Pisces, Cichlidae) and their implications for selection in cichlid fishes. Evolution 41:1357–1369

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer A (1989) Cost of morphological specialization: feeding performance of the two morphs in the trophically polymorphic cichlid fish, Cichlasoma citrinellum. Oecologia 80:431–436

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer A (1990) Ecological and evolutionary aspects of the trophic polymorphism in Cichlasoma citrinellum (Pisces, Cichlidae). Biol J Linn Soc 39:279–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Mittelbach GG (1981) Foraging efficiency and body size: a study of optimal diet and habitat use by bluegills. Ecology 62:1370–1386

    Google Scholar 

  • Mittelbach GG (1984) Predation and resource partitioning in two sunfishes (Centrarchidae). Ecology 65:449–513

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordeng H (1983) Solution of the “char problem” based on Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus) in Norway. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 40:1372–1387

    Google Scholar 

  • Osenberg CW, Mittelbach GG (1989) Effects of body size on the predator-prey interaction between pumpkinseed sunfish and gastropods. Ecol Monogr 59:405–432

    Google Scholar 

  • Osenberg CW, Mittelbach GG, Wainwright PC (1992) Two-stage life histories in fish: the interaction between juvenile competition and adult performance. Ecology 73: (in press)

  • Sadzikowski MR, Wallace DC (1976) A comparison of the food habits of size classes of three sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque. L. gibbosus (Linnaeus) and L. cyanellus Rafinesque). Am Midl Nat 95:220–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Sage RD, Selander RK (1975) Trophic radiation through polymorphism in cichlid fishes. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 72:4669–4673

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoener TW (1974) Resource partitioning in ecological communities. Science 185:27–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Schutz DC, Northcote TG (1972) An experimental study of feeding behavior and interaction of coastal cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki clarki) and Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma). J Fish Res Bd Can 29:555–565

    Google Scholar 

  • Skulason S, Noakes DLG, Snorrason SS (1989) Ontogeny of trophic morphology in four sympatric morphs of arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus in Thingrallauatn, Iceland. Biol J Linn Soc 38:281–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Trautman MB (1981) The fishes of Ohio. The Ohio State University Press, Columbus

    Google Scholar 

  • Vrijenhoek RC, Marteinsdottir G, Schenck R (1987) Genotypic and phenotypic aspects of niche diversification in fishes. In: Matthews WJ, Heins DC (eds) Community and evolutionary ecology of North American stream fishes. Univ Oklahoma Press, Norman, pp 245–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Wainwright PC (1987) Biomechanical limits to ecological performance: mollusc crushing by the Caribbean hogfish, Lachnolaimus maximus (Labridae). J Zool Lond 213:283–297

    Google Scholar 

  • Wainwright PC (1988) Morphology and ecology: the functional basis of feeding constraints in Caribbean labrid fishes. Ecology 69:635–645

    Google Scholar 

  • Wainwright PC, Lauder GV (1991) The evolution of feeding biology in sunfishes (Centrarchidae). In: Mayden RL (ed) Systematics, historical ecology, and North American freshwater fishes. Stanford Press, Stanford

    Google Scholar 

  • Wainwright PC, Osenberg CW, Mittelbach GG (1991) Trophic polymorphism in the pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus Linnaeus): effects of environment on ontogeny. Func Ecol 5:40–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner EE (1984) The mechanisms of species interactions and community organization in fish. In: Strong DR, Simberloff D, Abele LG, Thistle AB (eds) Ecological communities: conceptual issues and the evidence. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner EE, Hall DJ (1977) Niche shifts in sunfishes: experimental evidence and significance. Science 191:404–406

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner EE, Hall DJ (1977) Competition and habitat shift in two sunfishes (Centrarchidae). Ecology 58:869–876

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner EE, Hall DJ (1979) Foraging efficiency and habitat switching in competing sunfishes. Ecology 60:256–264

    Google Scholar 

  • Wetzel RG, Likens GE (1979) Limnological analysis. W B Saunders Co, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, 49060, Hickory Corners, MI, USA

    Gary G. Mittelbach

  2. Marine Science Institute, University of California, 93106, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Craig W. Osenberg

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Florida State University, 32306, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Peter C. Wainwright

  4. Department of Zoology, Michigan State University, 49060, Hickory Corners, MI, USA

    Gary G. Mittelbach

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, 93106, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Craig W. Osenberg

Authors
  1. Gary G. Mittelbach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Craig W. Osenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Peter C. Wainwright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mittelbach, G.G., Osenberg, C.W. & Wainwright, P.C. Variation in resource abundance affects diet and feeding morphology in the pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus). Oecologia 90, 8–13 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317802

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317802

Key words

Search

Navigation