Importance of ciliates as food for fish larvae in a shallow sea bay and a large shallow lake
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Kuupäev
2019
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Kirjastaja
Elsevier
Abstrakt
We estimated the consumption of planktonic ciliates by fish larvae in the Väinameri Sea (a shallow semi-enclosed bay of the
Baltic Sea) and Lake Võrtsjärv (a shallow and eutrophic lake). Our primary hypothesis was that planktonic ciliates constitute
a substantial component of the diet of fish larvae in both environments. We also assumed that the contribution of ciliates to
larval nutrition is bigger in lacustrine than in marine environment because ciliates are usually more abundant in lakes. The
nutrition of field collected larval fish was determined by gut content analysis using epifluorescence microscopy. Our study
revealed that ciliates occurred in the alimentary tracts of all fish species examined. We discovered that the consumption of
ciliates by first-feeding fish larvae contributed approximately 40 and 60% of their total consumed carbon in the Väinameri and
in Võrtsjärv, respectively. Ciliates represent essentially important food for fish larvae and sufficient protozoan food may enhance
larval growth in the beginning of the exogenous feeding and shorten the most vulnerable period in larval stage before shifting
to larger prey.
This work was subsidised by institutional research funding IUT 21-02 of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, Estonian Science Foundation grants (8511, 8969, 9102) and Swiss Grant for Programme “Enhancing public environmental monitoring capacities”.
This work was subsidised by institutional research funding IUT 21-02 of the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, Estonian Science Foundation grants (8511, 8969, 9102) and Swiss Grant for Programme “Enhancing public environmental monitoring capacities”.
Kirjeldus
Märksõnad
brackish water body, ciliates, freshwater lake, larval fish diet, predation, protozooplankton, articles