INVESTIGADORES
BOLTOVSKOY Demetrio
artículos
Título:
Native fish larvae take advantage of introduced mussel larvae: field evidence of feeding preferences on veligers of the introduced freshwater bivalve Limnoperna fortunei
Autor/es:
PAOLUCCI, ESTEBAN; ALMADA PABLO; CATALDO, DANIEL; BOLTOVSKOY, DEMETRIO
Revista:
HYDROBIOLOGIA
Editorial:
SPRINGER
Referencias:
Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2015 vol. 745 p. 211 - 224
ISSN:
0018-8158
Resumen:
Previous work has shown that the invasive
bivalve Limnoperna fortunei has had a measurable
impact on local food webs, but knowledge of the
trophic interactions involved is still very limited. On
the basis of samples collected along the lower
Paraguay-middle Parana´ rivers, we studied the feeding
behavior and selectivity of larval fish, with emphasis
on veligers of the introduced bivalve L. fortunei.
Among feeding larvae (i.e., without a yolk sac), 16.5%
had only Limnoperna veligers in their guts, while
15.6% had veligers and some other prey. Half of the
fish taxa recorded (8 out of a total of 16) consumed
Limnoperna veligers. The Paraguay and Parana´ rivers
differed strongly in the proportions of fish larvae that
consumed veligers: 14 and 68%, respectively. This
difference paralleled the availability of veligers in the
water column, which was significantly lower in the
Paraguay (0.8 ± 0.5 ind. l-1) than in the Parana´ River
(5.5 ± 2.3 ind. l-1). Conversely, cladocerans, originally
the staple food of fish larvae, were more
abundant in the Paraguay (consumed by 48% of the
individuals) than in the Parana´ River (26%). These
results indicate that, when widely available, Limnoperna
veligers largely replace the original prey of fish
larvae, especially in their younger stages
(protolarvae).