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A New Trophic Relationship in the Baikal Ecosystem: The Pelagic Amphipod Macrohectopus branickii (Crustacea, Amphipoda) and the Bat Myotis petax (Mammalia, Chiroptera)

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Abstract—

The phenomenon of the trawling insectivorous eastern bat Myotis petax Hollister 1912 feeding on the Baikal pelagic amphipod Macrohectopus branickii (Dybowsky 1874), which migrate to the water surface at night, is reported. The accumulation of large numbers of M. branickii was observed in the upper water layer near a steep underwater slope. The bats touched the water surface and captured the amphipods at the moment of their contact with the water–air interface. These trophic relationships between pelagic organisms and terrestrial vertebrates complement the food net in the ecosystem of Lake Baikal, an ancient deep lake.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 17-29-05067-ofi-m.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Baikal Museum, Irkutsk Science Center, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 664520, Settlement of Listvyanka, Irkutsk oblast, Russia

    S. I. Didorenko & V. V. Takhteev

  2. Irkutsk State Medical University, 664003, Irkutsk, Russia

    A. D. Botvinkin

  3. Irkutsk State University, 664003, Irkutsk, Russia

    V. V. Takhteev

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  1. S. I. Didorenko
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  2. A. D. Botvinkin
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  3. V. V. Takhteev
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Correspondence to S. I. Didorenko, A. D. Botvinkin or V. V. Takhteev.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. No experimentation involving animals or humans was performed by any of the authors.

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Translated by E. Martynova

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Didorenko, S.I., Botvinkin, A.D. & Takhteev, V.V. A New Trophic Relationship in the Baikal Ecosystem: The Pelagic Amphipod Macrohectopus branickii (Crustacea, Amphipoda) and the Bat Myotis petax (Mammalia, Chiroptera). Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 48, 907–914 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359021070116

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