Effects of a predatory fish (Galaxias olidus) on the structure of intermittent stream pool communities in southeast Australia

Abstract

Abstract The impact of predation over a 3 week period by the small (mean length 53 mm) salmoniform fish, Galaxias olidus, on the invertebrate communities in the still summer pools of an intermittent stream in southeastern Australia was tested using enclosures that incorporated both deep and shallow habitat areas. Twenty G. olidus, a key generalist predator in the system studied, were enclosed for 3 weeks in 1.5 × 1.7 m enclosures. Galaxias olidus was found to reduce significantly the distribution and abundance of air‐breathing nektonic species. In contrast, the abundance of non‐air‐breathing nektonic species increased in the presence of fish in the deep areas of the enclosures. There was no significant impact offish predation on species richness, total abundance, epibenthic or interstitial species. The most likely reason for the general lack of response to the presence of fish by epibenthic and interstitial species is the availability of abundant spatial refugia from predation within the complex substrate of the stream. In contrast, air‐breathing nektonic species are vulnerable to predation by fish due to the lack of refuges in the open water. Increases in the abundance of non‐air‐breathing nektonic species in the presence of fish may be related to reductions in the abundance of predatory dytiscid beetles. Significant differences between deep and shallow habitats were observed in total abundance and species richness, and in the abundances of air‐breathing nektonic and epibenthic species, suggesting that physicochemical factors play a key role in determining invertebrate distribution within stream pools.