Analyses of stomach contents and stable isotopes reveal food sources of estuarine detritivorous fish in tropical/subtropical Taiwan |
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| Authors: | Hsing-Juh Lin Wen-Yuan Kao Ya-Ting Wang |
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| Institution: | aDepartment of Life Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan, ROC;bInstitute of Marine Environmental Chemistry and Ecology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 202, Taiwan, ROC;cDepartment of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC |
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| Abstract: | Detritivorous fish generally refers to fish that primarily ingest unidentified organic detritus. We analyzed stomach contents in combination with stable isotopes to trace and compare the food sources of the large-scale mullet Liza macrolepis and other detritivorous fish species in subtropical mangrove creeks and a tropical lagoon in Taiwan. The volume of organic detritus always contributed >50% of the stomach content of L. macrolepis in the two habitats. However, consumed items were distinct between the two habitats and corresponded to the types in which they reside. The consumed items in the lagoon were more diverse than those observed in the mangroves. In the mangroves, the diet composition of L. macrolepis was primarily determined by season, not by body size. In the lagoon, there were no clear seasonal or size-dependent grouping patterns for the diet composition. There were significant seasonal and spatial variations in δ13C and δ15N values of potential food sources and L. macrolepis. However, neither δ13C nor δ15N values of L. macrolepis were correlated with fish body size. Joint analyses of stomach contents and stable isotopes indicated that benthic microalgae on sediments were the most important assimilated food in both seasons for the dominant detritivorous fish in the mangroves, whereas a greater reliance on microalgal and macroalgal periphyton on oyster-culture pens was observed in the lagoon. Mangrove and marsh plants and phytoplankton, which are mostly locally produced within each habitat, were of minor importance in the assimilated food. |
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| Keywords: | δ 13C δ 15N stomach contents tropical lagoon mangroves periphyton |
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