Plasticity in the diet of an insectivorous Characin from a coastal stream of south-east Brazil: effects of riparian canopy cover in the diet and prey selectivity

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Plasticity in the diet of an insectivorous Characin from a coastal stream of south-east Brazil: effects of riparian canopy cover in the diet and prey selectivity Paula B. Mazzoni1* and Rosana Mazzoni1 1 UERJ, Ecology, Brazil Riparian zones are intimately linked to aquatic ecosystems and affect a number of processes including the maintenance of many fishes species that feed directly on insect prey of both allo and autochtonous origin. Mimagoniates microlepis is a Glandulocaudinae species whose diet is broadly based on unsects. Registers mentioned that Mimagoniates species are generally opportunistic foragers, consuming prey approximately in proportion to what is available in the environment. Coastal streams from Mata Atlântica in the east cost of South America has been suffering drastic losses of natural cover because of forest cutting to supply the growing demands for food, development of agricultural fields, intensive cultivation of sugar cane and soya beans. In the present study we aimed to access how much the availability of insect prey changes along the stream course of a coastal stream from Mata Atlântica (southeast Brazil). We addressed if changes in the availability of prey insects are reflected in the diet of Mimagoniates populations occurring in different sites along the stream. We sampled prey availability and fishes at five sites with different degrees of canopy coverture (shaded vs. non shaded sites). We found that prey availability changes according to physical environmental variables (coverture, water velocity and substratum). Although adaptable to prey availability, relative importance of different insect groups changed in the diet of individuals according to sampling site, M. microlepis was not registered in sites without canopy coverture and allochthonous insect prey. References BARRETO, Almir P.; ARANHA, José M. R.. Alimentação de quatro espécies de Characiformes de um riacho da Floresta Atlântica, Guaraqueçaba, Paraná, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia, Paraná, v.23. BRAGA, Almir P.; ARANHA, José Marcelo Rocha; VITULE, Jean Ricardo. Reproduction Period of Mimagoniates microlepis, from an Atlantic Forest Stream in Southern Brazil. Keywords: Stream, Mata Atlântica, rain forest, feeding ecology, Allochthonous matter Conference: XV European Congress of Ichthyology, Porto, Portugal, 7 Sep - 11 Sep, 2015. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Ecology, Conservation and Invasive Species Citation: Mazzoni PB and Mazzoni R (2015). Plasticity in the diet of an insectivorous Characin from a coastal stream of south-east Brazil: effects of riparian canopy cover in the diet and prey selectivity. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XV European Congress of Ichthyology. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2015.03.00210 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 07 Dec 2015; Published Online: 07 Dec 2015. * Correspondence: Mrs. Paula B Mazzoni, UERJ, Ecology, Rio de Janeiro, 20550013, Brazil, paulabmazzoni@yahoo.com.br Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Paula B Mazzoni Rosana Mazzoni Google Paula B Mazzoni Rosana Mazzoni Google Scholar Paula B Mazzoni Rosana Mazzoni PubMed Paula B Mazzoni Rosana Mazzoni Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.