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Trophic Ecology of the Slender Snipe Eel, Nemichthys scolopaceus (Anguilliformes: Nemichthyidae)
Title
Trophic Ecology of the Slender Snipe Eel, Nemichthys scolopaceus (Anguilliformes: Nemichthyidae).
Creator
Feagans, Jennifer N., Sutton, Tracey T., Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description
Roughly 92% of the total volume of Earth's oceans is considered deep sea. The eel species, Nemichthys scolopaceus, inhabits these waters, and little is known of its diet, its place within pelagic food webs, and its overall ecological impact. In this study we quantitatively estimate the abundance, feeding and predation impact of this key predator. Specimens were collected in 2004 along Georges Bank as part of the Census of Marine Life Gulf of Maine project. Gut contents were analyzed,...
Show moreRoughly 92% of the total volume of Earth's oceans is considered deep sea. The eel species, Nemichthys scolopaceus, inhabits these waters, and little is known of its diet, its place within pelagic food webs, and its overall ecological impact. In this study we quantitatively estimate the abundance, feeding and predation impact of this key predator. Specimens were collected in 2004 along Georges Bank as part of the Census of Marine Life Gulf of Maine project. Gut contents were analyzed, revealing thirteen prey types, primarily euphausiids and decapod crustaceans. Other potential prey (i.e. fishes) were absent from the diet, suggesting a fairly selective feeding preference. Of the 85 fish species collected, N scolopaceus ranked second in abundance and first in total fish biomass. Therefore, this species is not only a large biomass contributor, but perhaps cycles a great deal of macrocrustacean carbon through deep-pelagic fishes in this, and likely other, ecosystems.
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Date Issued
2008
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000760
Subject Headings
Predatory marine animals--Ecology, Marine ecosystem management, Aquatic ecology
Format
Document (PDF)
Consumptive effects of predatory fish reduce wetland crayfish (Procambarus spp.) recruitment and drive species turnover
Title
Consumptive effects of predatory fish reduce wetland crayfish (Procambarus spp.) recruitment and drive species turnover.
Creator
Kellogg, Christopher M., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract/Description
Trade-offs in traits conferring success in permanent and ephemeral habitats are often at odds with few species being able to persist in both types of environments. I examined the effect of sunfish predators on two species of south Florida crayfish to establish the mechanism that limits one species, Procambarus alleni, to short-hydroperiod environments. The crayfish assemblage response to a gradient of sunfish predators and the effect of predation on P. fallax alone was examined. I also...
Show moreTrade-offs in traits conferring success in permanent and ephemeral habitats are often at odds with few species being able to persist in both types of environments. I examined the effect of sunfish predators on two species of south Florida crayfish to establish the mechanism that limits one species, Procambarus alleni, to short-hydroperiod environments. The crayfish assemblage response to a gradient of sunfish predators and the effect of predation on P. fallax alone was examined. I also examined the effects of sunfish on crayfish growth and quantified activity levels and risky behaviors of both crayfish species. P. alleni dominated at low sunfish densities but dominance shifted with increasing sunfish density. P. alleni was more active and likely to initiate risky behaviors, suggesting that sunfish predators remove the more active P. alleni, reducing their numbers disproportionally to those of P. fallax and allowing P. fallax to dominate crayfish assemblages in long-hydroperiod wetlands.
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Date Issued
2011
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3171400
Subject Headings
Wetland ecology, Habitat selection, Marine ecosystem management, Predatory marine animals, Ecology
Format
Document (PDF)
Diet variation and the consumptive effects of native centrarchids on benthic macroinvertebrates in wetlands
Title
Diet variation and the consumptive effects of native centrarchids on benthic macroinvertebrates in wetlands.
Creator
Bransky, Jacob., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Center for Environmental Studies
Abstract/Description
Fish predation can have structuring effects in aquatic communities, but the most important fish predators are not always immediately obvious. Generalist fish predators often occupy similar habitats and consume similar prey making determination of their consumptive impacts difficult. Understanding these consumptive impacts is important for understanding complex wetland food webs. I collected warmouth (Lepomis gulosus), bluespotted sunfish (Enneacanthus gloriosus), and dollar sunfish (Lepomis...
Show moreFish predation can have structuring effects in aquatic communities, but the most important fish predators are not always immediately obvious. Generalist fish predators often occupy similar habitats and consume similar prey making determination of their consumptive impacts difficult. Understanding these consumptive impacts is important for understanding complex wetland food webs. I collected warmouth (Lepomis gulosus), bluespotted sunfish (Enneacanthus gloriosus), and dollar sunfish (Lepomis marginatus) in two seasons from sloughs for both diet and bioenergetics analysis. Macroinvertebrates dominated diets of the three species, and nonparametric analyses revealed evidence of diet ontogeny in warmouth and potential competition for prey items among gape-matched individuals. Bioenergetics modeling revealed high levels of macroinvertebrate comsumption by these species relative to macroinvertebrate reproductive output suggesting that when combined with other sources of mortality, consumptive pressures placed by sunfish on benthic macroinvertebrates may be quite large.
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Date Issued
2012
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3356894
Subject Headings
Wetland ecology, Predatory marine animals, Ecology, Predation (Biology), Habitat selction, Marine ecosystem management
Format
Document (PDF)
Larval predation by epifauna on temperate reefs: scale, power and the scarcity of measurable effects
Title
Larval predation by epifauna on temperate reefs: scale, power and the scarcity of measurable effects.
Creator
Young, Craig M., Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
Date Issued
1990
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FCLA/DT/3343815
Subject Headings
Benthic animals, Suspension feeders, Larvae--Ecology, Predatory marine animals, Reefs
Format
Document (PDF)
Nutrition and habitat driven foraging of wild dolphins in the Bahamas
Title
Nutrition and habitat driven foraging of wild dolphins in the Bahamas: a recipe for prey.
Creator
Malinowski, Christopher R., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract/Description
Two sympatric dolphin species, Stenella frontalis and Tursiops truncatus, resident to Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas were found to mostly forage independent of one another, but occasionally foraged in mixed groups. Analysis of over 20 years of data revealed the degree of overlap to be minimal with spatially distinct regions identified for both species, environmental segregation based on depth, bottom type, temperature, and time of day. Results based on observational data indicated significant...
Show moreTwo sympatric dolphin species, Stenella frontalis and Tursiops truncatus, resident to Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas were found to mostly forage independent of one another, but occasionally foraged in mixed groups. Analysis of over 20 years of data revealed the degree of overlap to be minimal with spatially distinct regions identified for both species, environmental segregation based on depth, bottom type, temperature, and time of day. Results based on observational data indicated significant differences in group size and selected prey. For S. frontalis, lactating females had the most distinct diet, which differed from that of non-reproductively active (NRA) females. Pregnant females had ambiguous prey use results, but diet differences were revealed through nutritional analysis. Lactating females had a higher intake of all nutrients (% moisture, % lipid, % protein, and calories) than pregnant females but lower than NRA females. Mother and calf pairs selected prey for caloric and moisture values. The influence of calves on foraging groups was reflected through discrete differences in all nutrients. Males and females appeared to select the same major prey, but female prey use was much more diverse.
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Date Issued
2011
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3318668
Subject Headings
Dolphins, Habitat, Predatory marine animals, Ecology, Marine ecosystem management, Predation (Biology), Aquatic mammals, Behavior
Format
Document (PDF)
Aggressive Behaviors Of Adult Male Atlantic Spotted Dolphins (Stenella frontalis) During Intraspecific And Interspecific Aggressive Interactions
Title
Aggressive Behaviors Of Adult Male Atlantic Spotted Dolphins (Stenella frontalis) During Intraspecific And Interspecific Aggressive Interactions.
Creator
Volker, Cassandra L., Herzing, Denise L., Hughes, Colin, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract/Description
Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are two sympatric species resident to the Bahamas. The visibility of the Bahamian water provided a unique opportunity to study spotted dolphin communication during aggression. This study’s main focus was to decipher any similarities or differences in the behaviors used by spotted dolphins during interspecific and intraspecific aggression. Both similarities and differences were discovered. Biting,...
Show moreAtlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are two sympatric species resident to the Bahamas. The visibility of the Bahamian water provided a unique opportunity to study spotted dolphin communication during aggression. This study’s main focus was to decipher any similarities or differences in the behaviors used by spotted dolphins during interspecific and intraspecific aggression. Both similarities and differences were discovered. Biting, following, and chasing behavioral events were used more during interspecific aggression, while the display behavioral class was used more than the contact behavioral class during intrabut not interspecific aggression. This study showed that spotted dolphins use more energy intensive and risky behaviors when fighting interspecifically. This could result from having to fight and defend females from a larger species, trying to avoid sexual harassment from bottlenose males, or needing to use behaviors that are more overt and easily understood during interspecies communication.
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Date Issued
2016
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004638, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004638
Subject Headings
Atlantic spotted dolphin--Bahamas., Aggressive behavior in animals., Social behavior in animals., Aquatic mammals--Behavior., Predation (Biology), Predatory marine animals--Ecology.
Format
Document (PDF)