Trophic resource partitioning of two snook fish species (Centropomidae) in tropical estuaries in Brazil as evidenced by stable isotope analysis

Type Article
Date 2019-10
Language English
Author(s) Guazzelli Gonzalez Julio1, Ménard Frédéric2, Le Loc'h François3, Agrelli De Andrade Humber1, Pontes Viana Andréa1, Ferreira Valdimere1, Frédou Flávia Lucena1, Lira Alex Souza1, Munaron Jean-Marie3, Frédou Thierry1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, UFRPE, Departamento de Recursos Pesqueiros e Aquicultura, Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, Recife, PE. CEP: 52.171-900, Brazil
2 : Aix Marseille Univ, Univ Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO, UM110, Marseille, France
3 : IRD, Laboratoire des Sciences de L'Environnement Marin, UMR 6539, CNRS, UBO, IRD, Ifremer, 29280, Plouzané, France
Source Estuarine Coastal And Shelf Science (0272-7714) (Elsevier BV), 2019-10 , Vol. 226 , P. 106287 (11p.)
DOI 10.1016/j.ecss.2019.106287
WOS© Times Cited 16
Keyword(s) Brackish water fish, Trophic relationships, Carbon, Nitrogen, Centropomus
Abstract

We investigated the trophic niches and the resource partitioning of two snook species, the common (Centropomus undecimalis) and the fat snook (C. parallelus), in four tropical estuaries of the northeastern Brazil, using stable isotope analyses of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N). Fish specimens, mainly juveniles, basal resources and a primary consumer were collected in 2015 during dry and rainy seasons in all estuaries, which exhibited differences in system size, geomorphologic shapes, levels of sea access and anthropic pressures. Potential effect of factors like fish body length, estuary and seasonality on isotope ratios were investigated. Positive relationships between the size of fish and δ15N values were found, regardless the species. Our results indicated that snooks can be characterized as secondary consumers and have close trophic niches in most estuaries. Trophic overlaps were more pronounced within the largest estuaries (Catuama and Santa Cruz), whereas smaller systems that have restricted connections to the sea presented low isotopic niche overlap between both species (Suape and Sirinhaém). Moreover, a higher variability of δ13C and δ15N values in snooks was found in larger estuaries undergoing stronger influences from coastal adjacent waters. Although we were not able to detect clear seasonal effects, greater isotopic overlaps were found during the rainy season. Despite the lack of intrinsic differences in life history traits, both species, dominated by juveniles, shared similar trophic niches in these environments.

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Guazzelli Gonzalez Julio, Ménard Frédéric, Le Loc'h François, Agrelli De Andrade Humber, Pontes Viana Andréa, Ferreira Valdimere, Frédou Flávia Lucena, Lira Alex Souza, Munaron Jean-Marie, Frédou Thierry (2019). Trophic resource partitioning of two snook fish species (Centropomidae) in tropical estuaries in Brazil as evidenced by stable isotope analysis. Estuarine Coastal And Shelf Science, 226, 106287 (11p.). Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2019.106287 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00506/61767/