Abstract
The effect of fish larvae on the diel vertical migration of the zooplankton community was investigated in two tropical lakes, Finado Raimundo and Pintado lakes, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. Nocturnal and diurnal samplings were conducted in the limnetic region of each lake for 10 consecutive months from April 2008 to January 2009. The zooplankton community presented a wide range of responses to the predation pressure exerted by fish larvae in both environments, while fish larvae showed a typical pattern of normal diel vertical migration. Our results also demonstrated that the diel vertical migration is an important behaviour to avoid predation, since it reduces the spatial overlap between prey and potential predator, thus supporting the hypothesis that vertical migration is a defence mechanism against predation.
Highlights
The diel vertical migration (DVM) of zooplankton is considered the largest and the most regular migratory movement on the planet (Hansson et al, 2007a)
Data about vertical distribution of ichthyoplankton and zooplankton in the lakes Finado Raimundo and Pintado provide evidence that these communities perform diel vertical migration, based on the differences found in the vertical distribution between day and night
Fish larvae exhibited a clear pattern of diel vertical distribution in the water column
Summary
The diel vertical migration (DVM) of zooplankton is considered the largest (in terms of biomass) and the most regular migratory movement on the planet (Hansson et al, 2007a). The most accepted hypothesis to explain the DVM is the avoidance of predation and argues that this ubiquitous behaviour pattern enables avoidance of visual predation by zooplankton in surface water through the use of deeper layers of the water column as a refuge during the day (Zaret and Suffern, 1976; Hansson et al, 2007b). This phenomenon has been a major subject in studies over the past decades (Ringelberg, 2010). Prey-predator interactions are strongly dependent on the spatial
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