Feeding of two sympatric species of Characidium, C. lanei and C. pterostictum (Characidiinae) in a coastal stream of Atlantic Forest (Southern Brazil)

The feeding strategy of Characidium lanei and C. pterostictum was studied in the "Cabral" stream, a coastal stream of the Atlantic Forest, in southern Brazil. The samples were taken using electric fishing between March/95 and February/96. We studied about 15 stomach contents for each speci...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Aranha José Marcelo R., Gomes José Henrique C., Fogaça Fábio N. O.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto de Tecnologia do Paraná (Tecpar) 2000-01-01
Series:Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-89132000000500013
Description
Summary:The feeding strategy of Characidium lanei and C. pterostictum was studied in the "Cabral" stream, a coastal stream of the Atlantic Forest, in southern Brazil. The samples were taken using electric fishing between March/95 and February/96. We studied about 15 stomach contents for each species in each season of the year. The stomach contents of the studied species were composed of 39 different food items, 28 in C. lanei and 24 in C. pterostictum. Chironomidae larvae and Ephemeroptera nymph were the most important items for C. lanei, except in the summer when Acarina and not identified Arthropoda were the most important items. Chironomidae and Simulidae larvae were the most important items in C. pterostictum. These results indicated an insectivorous habits and opportunist feeding strategy to C. lanei and C. pterostictum with several items rare or not very frequent.
ISSN:1516-8913
1678-4324