Abstract
ABSTRACTNew Zealand's native freshwater mussels (kākahi, kāeo) are considered to be in decline, yet the mechanisms driving this are unclear. The widespread establishment of highly efficient filter-feeding, non-native Daphnia in New Zealand lakes may have led to competition for algae with kākahi. We conducted a controlled laboratory experiment to determine whether differences exist in algal resources utilised by kākahi and North American Daphnia pulex. Echyridella menziesii (adults and juveniles) and D. pulex were exposed to mixed algal samples for three hours to determine whether similar algal resources were removed by the grazers. Relative to controls, both adult and juvenile E. menziesii removed a broad range of algal taxa including diatoms, green algae and filamentous species, ranging in size from 33.6 to 348.0 μm. High densities of D. pulex were unable to cause depletion of these same algae species. Our results suggest niche overlap is limited between the two grazers; E. menziesii utilises larger particles than D. pulex.
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