TROPHIC ADAPTATION OF RED SEA FISHES TO THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN ENVIRONMENT—REVIEW AND NEW DATA

Abstract

ABSTRACT The trophic adaptation of Red Sea fishes that colonized the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal (Lessepsian migrants) is reviewed. All species studied retained, as expected, their basic feeding habits. Some alterations were found in diet composition and prey size, compared with those of the populations in the source area. Insufficient knowledge of the abundance of most prey organisms in the Mediterranean makes it difficult to determine to what extent trophic adaptation is achieved by selection of preferred food. In the three families studied (Mullidae, Sphyraenidae, and Synodontidae), feeding habits play a negligible role in niche segregation between Lessepsian fishes and closely-related indigenous species in the Mediterranean; depth distribution is the main means of niche partitioning between these two groups of species. The division of Lessepsian fishes according to their feeding habits was compared to that of the source ichthyofauna in the Red Sea and of the recipient ichthyofauna in the eastern ...