Grazing of the lambari fish Deuterodon iguape is associated with mouth morphology

For a better understanding of fish feeding biology it is desirable to know not only the food items ingested by the species but also the anatomical structures and feeding tactics that enable individuals to access specific food. Deuterodon iguape is an omnivorous and small-sized Characidae from coasta...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zoologischer Anzeiger 2018-05, Vol.274, p.127-130
Main Authors: da Silva Gonçalves, Cristina, Cestari, César
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atlantic forest
Behavior
Characidae
Feeding tactic
Hard substrate scraper
Underwater observation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:For a better understanding of fish feeding biology it is desirable to know not only the food items ingested by the species but also the anatomical structures and feeding tactics that enable individuals to access specific food. Deuterodon iguape is an omnivorous and small-sized Characidae from coastal Atlantic rainforest. We describe the grazing tactic of D. iguape and discuss the associated mouth structures that enable individuals to access algae and debris from bedrocks in Atlantic forest streams. Mouth structures acting together with body inclination of individuals probably confer advantages to the species scraping foraging strategy (herein called hard substrate scraper while laterally inclined) and optimize the food intake. The ability of D. iguape to access specific food resources in Atlantic forest streams may confer ecological advantages in relation to other fish species that do not have as much trophic plasticity.
ISSN:0044-5231
1873-2674
DOI:10.1016/j.jcz.2018.01.005