Feeding ecology of the non-indigenous fish Hypomesus nipponensis in Lake Ulungur, China: insight into the relationship between its introduction and the collapse of the native Eurasian perch population
Xiaoyu Zhou A B , Zhongjun Hu A , Qigen Liu A D , Lili Yang A and Yubo Wang C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A The Key Laboratory of Aquatic Genetic Resources and Utilization of Ministry of Agriculture of China, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, P.R. China.
B Nanjing Institute of Environment Science, MEP, Nanjing 210042, P.R. China.
C Yubo WANG 107, Life Sciences Building, Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, 3357 Highland Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
D Corresponding author. Email: qgliu@shou.edu.cn
Marine and Freshwater Research 64(6) 549-557 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF12168
Submitted: 25 June 2012 Accepted: 19 February 2013 Published: 8 May 2013
Abstract
Studies of feeding ecology are essential in gaining an understanding of how established non-indigenous fish species interact with the invaded communities. In the present study, we investigated the composition and seasonal variation in the diet of the introduced Japanese smelt Hypomesus nipponensis, a small planktivorous fish, in Lake Ulungur, China. The objective was to examine the ecological role of this established non-indigenous smelt through the analysis of its diet, which might give more insight into the relationship between its introduction and the collapse of the native Eurasian perch population. Results showed that the Japanese smelt had a broader feeding spectrum than had been previously reported. Of 10 taxonomic or ecological categories of food, cladocerans (54.70%) and rotifers (15.39%) were the most important food items in terms of the index of relative importance (IRI), whereas surface food and chironomid larvae were the most important by weight. Although cladocerans were consistently the most important food, rotifers and copepods, together with surface food and chironomid larvae, substituted when cladocerans were scarcer. Because both rotifers and chironomid larvae are important food of larval and young perch, introduction of Japanese smelt into the lake might be responsible for the collapse of the perch population because of the suppression of rotifers and chironomid larvae in spring through seasonal predation.
Additional keywords: Cladocera, diet, Japanese smelt, Perca fluviatilis, zooplankton.
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