The Diets in Four Pacific Tube Blennies (Acanthemblemaria: Chaenopsidae): Lack of Ecological Divergence in Syntopic Species |
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Authors: | David G Lindquist Kurt M Kotrschal |
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Institution: | Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, North Carolina 28403, USA.;Zoologisches Institut der Universität Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstraße 34, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria. |
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Abstract: | Abstract. The diets of three syntopic Gulf of California Acanthemblemaria (A. balanorum, A. crock-eri and A. macrospilus) and A. castroi from the Galapagos Island are nearly uniformly composed of harpacticoid copepods and other small benthic-vagile or planktonic crustaceans. On occasion, large prey items such as crabs or other small fishes are taken. HORN'S index of niche overlap indicates that the three syntopic Acanthemblemaria are not separated along the food resource utilization axis. Slight variations in diets among the syntopic species seem to be related to differences in degree of microhabitat specialization. |
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Keywords: | Acanthemblemaria Blennioidea Chaenopsidae feeding pattern Gulf of California niche overlap trophic opportunism |
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