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Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Trophic resources use pathways between two coexisting freshwater shrimp (Palaemon argentinus and Macrobrachium borellii)

M. Florencia Viozzi https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3287-1970 A and Verónica Williner https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7950-6968 A B *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Instituto Nacional de Limnología, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Santa Fe, Argentina.

B Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Paraje El Pozo, Santa Fe 3000, Argentina.

* Correspondence to: vwilliner@inali.unl.edu.ar

Handling Editor: Richard Marchant

Marine and Freshwater Research 74(14) 1236-1243 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF23096
Submitted: 4 April 2023  Accepted: 16 August 2023   Published: 11 September 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context

A better understanding of the use of different trophic pathways as a mechanism for adjusting interactions between coexisting omnivorous decapod species may help define the extent of their influence on energy flows in freshwater ecosystems.

Aims

Analyse the patterns of use of the benthic and littoral pathways by Macrobrachium borellii and Palaemon argentinus during a hydrological cycle in lakes of the middle Paraná River.

Methods

The study was conducted during one high-water (HW) and one low-water (LW) period in three lakes permanently connected to the middle Paraná River. We calculated the relative contributions of potential basal resources (benthic and littoral) to each species for each lake and hydrological period using mixing models.

Key results

It was observed that M. borellii feeds more in the littoral pathway and P. argentinus in the benthic pathway, especially in low water where we observed that the partitioning of resources was more pronounced.

Conclusion

The more aggessive species, M. borelli, during HW period quickly utilises the bioavailable material. Trophic dynamics and resource use are part of the coexistence mechanisms of both decapod species.

Implications

This may have important consequences in the aquatic trophic webs in which these organisms participate, because when segregating the use of resources, they intervene in different energetic pathways.

Keywords: hydrological cycles, littoral and benthonic pathways, microscale displacements, niche-differentiation theory, Paraná River, resource use, trophic segregation.

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