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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 57(1)

Assessing the trophic link between seagrass habitats and piscivorous fishes

Jeremy S. Hindell
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- Author Affiliations

A Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.

B Marine and Freshwater Systems, PO Box 114, Queenscliff, VIC 3225, Australia. Email: jeremy.hindell@dpi.vic.gov.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 57(1) 121-131 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF05082
Submitted: 5 May 2005  Accepted: 8 November 2005   Published: 17 January 2006

Abstract

Links between piscivorous fishes and seagrass habitat were investigated in Port Phillip Bay, Australia. Abundances of piscivorous fish were estimated, the contribution of fish to their diets was measured and the trophic link between these fish and seagrass beds was assessed with stable isotopes. Piscivorous fishes were common in seagrass and included eight species from seven families (33% by abundance). They consumed at least eight families of teleost prey, including juveniles of seagrass-associated taxa, such as monacanthids (e.g. Meuschenia freycineti) and syngnathids (Stigmatopora argus). No fish were exclusively piscivorous and contribution of fish to the diets of the most common species (Arripis truttacea and Kestratherina esox) varied strongly through time. Putative contributions of each source (primary producer – plant) to the nutrition of piscivorous fishes were: (1) fishes whose base for nutritional support was driven mostly (>50%) by seagrass (e.g. Platycephalus speculator and Platycephalus laevigatus); and (2) fishes whose base for nutritional support was not driven by any particular primary producer (e.g. Arripis truttacea and Pseudocaranx dentex). The propensity for piscivorous fish to include seagrass-associated fish in their diets, their perennial presence in seagrass and the strong putative contribution by seagrass to their nutrition, suggest that seagrass habitats can be valuable habitat for piscivorous fishes.

Extra keywords: carbon, diet analysis, habitat links, nitrogen, piscivory, prey, stable isotope.


Acknowledgments

Earlier versions of this manuscript were improved by comments from A. Longmore, E. Morris, R. Connolly and anonymous reviewers. Thanks also to M. Hendricks, L. McGrath, M. Wheatley and R. Watson for assistance in the field and at the research station. I gratefully acknowledge funding from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (1999/215) and the University of Melbourne. Research was done using the facilities at the Queenscliff Marine Station. This research complies with current laws in Australia.


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