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Feeding habits of four sympatric fish species in the Iberian Peninsula: keys to understanding coexistence using prey traits

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Abstract

Trophic interactions are important factors structuring animal communities. We assessed the trophic relations of four fish species that live in sympatry in the River Ladra (NW Spain), and cluster analysis differentiated two feeding strategies: (1) species with omnivorous feeding habits, feeding mainly on detritus and plant material but with aquatic macroinvertebrates as an important complement (Achondrostoma arcasii and Pseudochondrostoma duriense) and (2) species feeding mainly (Salmo trutta) or exclusively (Gasterosteus gymnurus) on aquatic macroinvertebrates. Concerning ingested macroinvertebrates, the trophic overlap was quantified using Schoener’s index and the results obtained revealed a high diet overlap among the species (from 81.3 up to 99.2%). In order to get a deeper insight into mechanisms of fish species coexistence, we used ten biological and ecological traits of macroinvertebrate prey to discriminate feeding preferences. As a result, despite the high similarity among the diets, our analyses suggest that differences in diel activity patterns and drift behaviour of preys, as well as differences in the prey size, are important adaptive features that may reduce the inter-specific competition in the fish community and permit the partitioning of food that allows coexistence.

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Acknowledgements

María Teresa Couto (University of Santiago of Compostela) gave advice for trait analysis. Part of this work has been carried out in the laboratories of the Station of Hydrobiology of the USC “Encoro do Con” at Vilagarcía de Arousa. This work has been partially supported by the project INCITE09203072PR of the Xunta de Galicia. The authors are also grateful to two anonymous referees for their helpful comments.

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  1. Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Campus Sur s/n, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Javier Sánchez-Hernández & Fernando Cobo

  2. Estación de Hidrobiología “Encoro do Con”, Castroagudín s/n, 36617, Vilagarcía de Arousa, Pontevedra, Spain

    Javier Sánchez-Hernández, Rufino Vieira-Lanero & Fernando Cobo

  3. Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de A Coruña, Campus da Zapateira s/n, 15008 A, Coruña, Spain

    María J. Servia

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  1. Javier Sánchez-Hernández
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  2. Rufino Vieira-Lanero
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Sánchez-Hernández, J., Vieira-Lanero, R., Servia, M.J. et al. Feeding habits of four sympatric fish species in the Iberian Peninsula: keys to understanding coexistence using prey traits. Hydrobiologia 667, 119–132 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0643-2

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