The diet and trophic positions of translocated, sympatric populations of Cherax destructor and Cherax cainii in the Hutt River, Western Australia: evidence of resource overlap
Stephen J. BeattyCentre for Fish and Fisheries Research, School of Biological Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia. Email: s.beatty@murdoch.edu.au
Marine and Freshwater Research 57(8) 825-835 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF05221
Submitted: 7 November 2005 Accepted: 6 October 2006 Published: 28 November 2006
Abstract
This study tested the hypothesis that the introduced yabbie Cherax destructor Clark, 1936 has the potential to compete with the endemic marron Cherax cainii Austin, 2002 for food resources. Multiple stable isotope analyses were conducted in the Hutt River, Western Australia, in summer (December) and winter (July), 2003. Summer samples indicated that these species occupied similar predatory trophic positions when their assimilated diet consisted of a large proportion of Gambusia holbrooki. Although C. cainii continued to assimilate mostly animal matter based on winter signatures, those of C. destructor appeared to shift towards a more herbivorous trophic position. The study suggests that C. destructor and C. cainii may be keystone species in the Hutt River, possibly altering the cycling of nutrients and structure of the aquatic food web since their introduction into this system. The ecological implications of the continued invasion of C. destructor into the aquatic systems of south-western Australia, particularly with regard to competition with the other endemic freshwater crayfishes, are discussed.
Additional keywords: competition, functional omnivores, keystone species, multiple stable isotope analyses, trophic predators.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Drs. David Morgan, Howard Gill, Brett Molony, Pierre Horwitz and Chris Taylor for reviewing earlier drafts of the manuscript. Many thanks also to Mark Allen and Emma Porter for help with sampling.
Austin, C. M. (1985). Introduction of the yabbie, Cherax destructor (Decapoda: Parastacidae) into southwestern Australia. Western Australian Naturalist 16, 78–82.
Beatty, S. J. , Morgan, D. L. , and Gill, H. S. (2005a). Role of life-history strategy in the colonisation of Western Australian aquatic systems by the introduced crayfish Cherax destructor. Hydrobiologia 549, 219–237.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Gill, H. S. , and Morgan, D. L. (2003). Ontogenetic changes in the diet of the black-stripe minnow Galaxiella nigrostriata (Shipway, 1953) (Galaxiidae) and the salamanderfish Lepidogalaxias salamandroides (Mees, 1961) (Lepidogalaxiidae). Ecology of Freshwater Fish 12, 151–158.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Morgan, D. L. , Gill, H. S. , and Potter, I. C. (2000). Age composition, growth and reproductive biology of the salamanderfish Lepidogalaxias salamandroides: a re-examination. Environmental Biology of Fishes 57, 191–204.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Nyström, P. B. , and Strand, J. A. (1996). Grazing by a native and an exotic crayfish on aquatic macrophytes. Freshwater Biology 36, 673–682.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Nyström, P. B. , Bronmark, W. , and Graneli, C. (1996). Patterns in benthic food webs: A role for omnivorous crayfish? Freshwater Biology 36, 631–646.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Nyström, P. , Bronmark, C. , and Graneli, W. (1999). Influence of an exotic and a native crayfish species on a littoral benthic community. Oikos 85, 545–553.
O’Brien, B. G. (1995). The natural diet of the freshwater crayfish Cherax tenuimanus (Smith 1912) (Decapoda: Parastacidae) as determined by gut content analysis. Freshwater Crayfish 10, 151–162.
O’Brien, B. G. , and Davies, P. M. (2002). The structure of marron (Cherax tenuimanus) food webs in commercial ponds: results from multiple stable isotope analyses. Freshwater Crayfish 13, 155–163.
Olsen, T. L. , Lodge, D. M. , Capelli, G. M. , and Houlihan, R. J. (1991). Mechanisms of impact of an introduced crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) on littoral congeners, snails, and macrophytes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 48, 1853–1861.
Parkyn, S. M. , Collier, K. J. , and Hicks, B. J. (2001). New Zealand crayfish: functional omnivores but trophic predators? Freshwater Biology 46, 641–652.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pen, L. J. , and Potter, I. C. (1991). Reproduction, growth and diet of Gambusia holbrooki (Girard) in a temperate Australian river. Aquatic Conservation: Marine & Freshwater Ecosystems 1, 159–172.
Pen, L. J. , Gill, H. S. , Humphries, P. , and Potter, I. C. (1993). Biology of the black-stripe minnow Galaxiella nigrostriata (Shipway), including comparisons with the other two Galaxiella species. Journal of Fish Biology 43, 847–863.
Phillips, D. L. , and Gregg, J. W. (2003). Source partitioning using stable isotopes: coping with too many sources. Oecologia 136, 261–269.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Ponsard, S. , and Averbuch, P. (1999). Should growing and adult animals fed on the same diet show different δ15N values? Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 13, 1305–1310.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Post, D. M. (2002). Using stable isotopes to estimate trophic position: models, methods, and assumptions. Ecology 83, 703–718.
Riek, E. F. (1967). The freshwater crayfish of Western Australia (Decapoda: Parastacidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 15, 103–121.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Rubin, J. F. , and Svensson, M. (1993). Predation by the noble crayfish, Astacus astacus (L.), on emerging fry of sea trout, Salmo trutta (L.). Nordic Journal of Freshwater Research 68, 100–104.
Söderbäck, B. (1994). Interactions among juveniles of two freshwater crayfish species and a predatory fish. Oecologia 100, 229–235.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Stenroth, P. , and Nyström, P. (2003). Exotic crayfish in a brown water stream: effects on juvenile trout, invertebrates and algae. Freshwater Biology 48, 466–475.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Usio, N. (2000). Effects of crayfish on leaf processing and invertebrate colonisation of leaves in a headwater stream: decoupling of a trophic cascade. Oecologia 124, 608–614.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Vanderklift, M. A. , and Ponsard, S. (2003). Sources of variation in consumer-diet δ15N enrichment: a meta-analysis. Oecologia 136, 169–182.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Whitledge, G. W. , and Rabeni, C. F. (1996). Diel and seasonal variation in the food habits of crayfishes in a Missouri Ozark stream. Freshwater Crayfish 11, 159–169.
