Diet of the amphi-Atlantic scaphopod Fissidentalium candidum in the deep waters of Campos Basin, south-eastern Brazil

Specimens of Fissidentalium candidum collected at Campos Basin, south-eastern Brazil, had their diet investigated in order to assess its feeding habits. Benthic prey exceeded the planktonic ones as expected and Foraminifera constituted the most frequent prey taxa, comprising about 99.5% of the scaph...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2017-09, Vol.97 (6), p.1259-1266
Main Authors: Dantas, Renato Junqueira De Souza, Laut, Lazaro Luiz Mattos, Caetano, Carlos Henrique Soares
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic crustaceans
Biodiversity
Crustaceans
Deep water
Diet
Dimensions
Ecology
Ferromanganese nodules
Fish
Fissidentalium candidum
Food
Foraminifera
Gadila
Habits
Marine molluscs
Microfauna
Mollusca
Mollusks
Morphology
Niches
Nodules
Otoliths
Phenotypes
Predation
Predators
Prey
Pulsellum
Rare species
Scaphopoda
Spatial variations
Species richness
Taxa
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Summary:Specimens of Fissidentalium candidum collected at Campos Basin, south-eastern Brazil, had their diet investigated in order to assess its feeding habits. Benthic prey exceeded the planktonic ones as expected and Foraminifera constituted the most frequent prey taxa, comprising about 99.5% of the scaphopod diet; the remaining components included a few molluscs (gastropods, bivalves and scaphopods), a nematode, an ostracod crustacean, fish otoliths, unknown partial organisms and inorganic material (e.g. sediment grains and polymetallic nodules). Amongst the species previously studied, F. candidum stood out by presenting the highest dietary diversity (H = 3.35) and species richness (N = 118). Predator and prey dimensions were not correlated and no spatial variation was observed in the diet amongst the three collection sites in the mid-slope of Campos Basin. Generalism, high rate of rare or unimportant species and high contribution of within-phenotype component to the niche width were important features of the trophic ecology of F. candidum. Inhabiting the deep water of Campos Basin, this dentaliid obtained most of its energy from the benthic microfauna, being a specialized foram predator with moderate preference for, and moderate selection against, several species.
ISSN:0025-3154
1469-7769
DOI:10.1017/S002531541600059X