Abstract
Understanding predator–prey relationships and resource overlap between sympatric species is fundamental for enhanced scientific knowledge and management. This study compared the trophic ecology of three small demersal fishes (Artediellus atlanticus, Myoxocephalus scorpius, and Leptagonus decagonus) using stomach data and stable isotope analyses. All fish were sampled during 2009–2011 from the inner basin of Porsangerfjord (70°N, 25°E) in northern Norway. The dominant prey found in A. atlanticus was polychaetes, while M. scorpius had fed on juvenile fishes and decapods, and L. decagonus had mainly consumed copepods. The trophic positions of the fishes overlapped extensively (A. atlanticus: trophic level (TL) 3.4–4.2; M. scorpius: TL 3.6–4.3; L. decagonus: TL 3.7–4.6). Although the nutritional origin (δ13C) of the prey varied among the fishes, A. atlanticus and M. scorpius were associated with benthic prey (δ13C −18.64 to −17.28 and δ13C −18.67 to −17.04, respectively), whereas L. decagonus was associated with pelagic prey (δ13C −19.95 to −18.74). The combined results of the stomach data and stable isotope analyses further suggested that M. scorpius had a dietary preference for benthic–pelagic prey. Thus, the fish diets were considered to be species specific, and the study indicated that the three species utilize different prey groups within the food web of the Porsangerfjord ecosystem.
Notes
All northern seas of the former USSR, including Barents Sea, Bering Sea (including the Bering Strait from Anadyr to Norton Sound southward), Chukchi Sea (including Beaufort Sea), Laptev Sea, Kara Sea, White Sea, and Central Arctic Ocean (from south of the Faroes to Iceland).
References
Ahlbeck I, Hansson S, Hjerne O (2012) Evaluating fish diet analysis methods by individual-based modelling. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 69:1184–1201
Andriyashev AP (1964) Fishes of the northern seas of the U.S.S.R. (translated from Russian). Israel Program for Scientific Translations Ltd., Israel
Bolnick DI, Ingram T, Stutz WE, Snowberg LK, Lau OL, Paull JS (2010) Ecological release from interspecific competition leads to decoupled changes in population and individual niche width. Proc R Soc B 277:1789–1797
Byrkjedal I, Høines Å (2007) Distribution of demersal fish in the south-western Barents Sea. Polar Res 26:135–151
Cardinale M (2000) Ontogenetic diet shifts of bull-rout, Myoxocephalus scorpius (L.), in the south-western Baltic Sea. J Appl Ichthyol 16:231–239
Christiansen JS, Fevolden S-E (2000) The polar cod of Porsangerfjorden, Norway; revisited. Sarsia 85:189–193
Eilertsen HC, Frantzen S (2007) Phytoplankton from two sub-Arctic fjords in northern Norway 2002–2004: I. Seasonal variations in chlorophyll a and bloom dynamics. Mar Biol Res 3:319–332
Eilertsen HC, Skarðhamar J (2006) Temperatures of north Norwegian fjords and coastal waters: variability, significance of local processes and air–sea heat exchange. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 67:530–538
Hayward PJ, Ryland JS (1990) The marine fauna of the British Isles and North-West Europe. Science, New York
Hyslop EJ (1980) Stomach content analysis—a review of methods and their application. J Fish Biol 17:411–430
Iken K, Bluhm B, Dunton K (2010) Benthic food-web structure under differing water mass properties in the southern Chukchi Sea. Deep-Sea Res II 57:71–85
McConnaugh T, McRoy CP (1979) Food-web structure and the fractionation of carbon isotopes in the Bering Sea. Mar Biol 53:257–262
Mecklenburg CW, Mecklenburg TA, Thorsteinson LK (2002) Fishes of Alaska. Am Fish Soc, Bethesda, MD
Moen FE, Svensen E (2003) Dyreliv i havet—nordeuropeisk marin fauna, 3rd edn. Kom forlag, Titrykk Skien (in Norwegian)
Nilsen M, Pedersen T, Nilssen EM, Fredriksen S (2008) Trophic studies in a high-latitude fjord ecosystem—a comparison of stable isotope analyses (δ13C and δ15N) and trophic-level estimates from a mass-balance model. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 65:2791–2806
Parrish JD (1975) Marine trophic interactions by dynamic simulation of fish species. Fish Bull 73:695–716
Peterson BJ, Fry B (1987) Stable isotopes in ecosystem studies. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 18:293–320
Pethon P (2005) Aschehougs store fiskebok, 5th edn. H. Aschehoug & Co, Aurskog (in Norwegian)
Post DM (2002) Using stable isotopes to estimate trophic position: models, methods, and assumptions. Ecology 83:703–718
Ramsvatn S, Pedersen T (2012) Ontogenetic niche changes in haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus reflected by stable isotope signatures, δ13C and δ15N. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 451:175–185
Renaud PE, Tessman M, Evenset A, Christensen GN (2011) Benthic food-web structure of an Arctic fjord (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard). Mar Biol Res 7:13–26
Rice J, Gislason H (1996) Patterns of change in the size spectra of numbers and diversity of the North Sea fish assemblage, as reflected in surveys and models. ICES Mar Sci Symp 203:1214–1225
Rupert EE, Fox RS, Barnes RD (2004) Invertebrate zoology—a functional evolutionary approach, 7th edn. Brooks/Cole a division of Thomson Learning INC, USA
Schoener TW (1970) Nonsynchronous spatial overlap of lizards in patchy habitats. Ecology 51:408–418
Soot-Ryen T (1951) New records on the distribution of marine Mollusca in northern Norway. Tromsø Museum Astarte 1:1–11
Svendsen H (1991) Preliminary results from a hydrophysical investigation of Porsangerfjord, Altafjord and adjacent coastal waters, June–August 1990. Report of the Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Norway, pp 1–28
Svetocheva O, Stasenkova N, Fooks G (2007) Guide to the bony fishes otoliths of the White Sea. IMR/PINRO Joint Report Series 3/2007. ISSN 1502-8828, pp 46
Tieszen LL, Boutton TW, Tesdahl KG, Slade NA (1983) Fractionation and turnover of stable carbon isotopes in animal tissues: implications for δ13C analysis in diet. Oecologia 57:32–37
von Dorrien CF (1993) Ecology and respiration of selected arctic benthic fish species. Ber Polarforsch 125:1–99
Wassmann P, Svendsen H, Keck A, Reigstad M (1996) Selected aspects of the physical oceanography and particle fluxes in fjords of northern Norway. J Mar Syst 8:53–71
Wootton RJ (1998) Ecology of teleost fishes, 2nd edn. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht
Zale AV, Parrish DL, Sutton TM (2012) Fisheries techniques, 3rd edn. Am Fish Soc, Bethesda, MD
Acknowledgments
This project received financial support from the EPIGRAPH program (The Research Council of Norway, project no. 188955). We wish to extend our gratitude to the crew of the R/V Johan Ruud for their great expertise and company while out in the field.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Källgren, E.K., Pedersen, T. & Nilssen, E.M. Food resource partitioning between three sympatric fish species in Porsangerfjord, Norway. Polar Biol 38, 583–589 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-014-1611-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-014-1611-x