Abstract
The genera Leptonema and Smicridea belong to the family Hidropsychidae and constitute one of the most important groups in the nutrient dynamics in the tropical aquatic ecosystems, which diversity of microhabitats is exploited by their larvae. However, there is lack of information concerning the detailed and comparative descriptions of mouthparts between these two genera, and their possible relation with their diet. The aim of this paper was to describe the morphology of the mouthparts and the feeding habits of both genera, in the middle basin of the Gaira River (Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia). The samples were collected on a monthly basis, with a surber net, between October and December of 2014, and May of 2015. A total of 15 larvae per genus were taken and the Blue Zen Software was used to determine the morphometric measurements of the cephalic pieces. Measurements were taken on photographs obtained from an AxioCam ERc5s camera adapted to a Nikon SMZ 745T stereoscope. To describe the mouthparts a M205A microscope-stereoscope Leica was used. The dietary habits of 15 individuals in total were evaluated by means of the analysis of stomach contents. A discriminant analysis of Hotelling was applied to the morphometric measurements. There were significant differences in head area (HA), head width (HW3), head length (HL2) and left mandible length (LML). In the morphological descriptions were found differences in: head, labrum and submentum. Dietaries profiles were performed to the stomach contents for both genera and the items with highest percentage for Leptonema was MOPG and MOPF with 38 % and 32 %, respectively, and for Smicridea MOPF (38 %) and MOPG (34 %) with significant differences (F = 8.8298, p < 0.05). This study indicated that the evaluated individuals consume a wide variety of resources and the difference of the diet of both genera can be related to the detected morphological differences.
Highlights
Hydropsychidae es una familia abundante y de una amplia distribución geográfica dentro del orden Trichoptera, la cual tiene cerca de 1 500 especies descritas a nivel mundial (Valladolid, Martínez, & Arauzo, 2007; Nessimian & Dumas, 2010)
This study indicated that the evaluated individuals consume a wide variety of resources and the difference of the diet of both genera can be related to the detected morphological differences
Este estudio indica que los individuos evaluados consumen una amplia variedad de recursos y la diferencia entre la dieta de ambos géneros puede estar relacionada con las diferencias morfológicas detectadas
Summary
Área de estudio: Los organismos evaluados se recolectaron en el río Gaira, cuya corriente de agua tiene una longitud aproximada de 32.53 km desde su nacimiento hasta su desembocadura (Frayter, Pabón, & Valero, 2000). Los organismos se separaron usando un estereoscopio (Nikon SMZ 745T) y las larvas se identificaron hasta el nivel de género utilizando las claves taxonómicas y guías propuestas por Posada y Roldán (2003) y Wiggins (2004). Descripción del aparato bucal: Para la descripción, se utilizó 15 individuos en estado larval de ambos géneros, usando un microscopio-estereoscopio Leica M205A, y para la estimación morfométrica, se implementó una cámara fotográfica AxioCam ERc5s acoplada a un estereoscopio Nikon SMZ 745T. Con la ayuda del Software Zen Blue se calcularon las siguientes medidas: longitud total del cuerpo, área, ancho y largo de cada una de las piezas bucales de los individuos (Cuadro 1). Finalmente, se procedió a fotografiar cada una de las piezas en un microscopio-estereoscopio Leica M205A con cámara integrada Leica DFC450. CUADRO 1 Variables medidas en las diferentes piezas bucales de Leptonema y Smicridea, con sus respectivos códigos
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