Do the habitats, mouth morphology and diets of the mullids Upeneichthys stotti and U. lineatus in coastal waters of south‐western Australia differ?

Abstract

Two benthic carnivorous goatfish (Mullidae), Upeneichthys stotti (max total length, L T =179 mm) and U. lineatus (max L T =257 mm), were trawled from the inner continental shelf waters of Western Australia. U. stotti was found almost exclusively offshore at 20-35 m depth, while U. lineatus was most abundant inshore at 5-15 m depth. Smaller individuals of both species ate small, thin-shelled mysids, tanaids and amphipods, while larger fish ate large, hard-bodied isopods, carid decapods and brachyuran crabs. Classification and ordination of the mean volumetric percentage contributions of the prey (dietary samples) of both species from all sites and in each season did not lead to a clear separation between these two species. However, ordination demonstrated that the dietary samples of the two species were distinct when the two species were found together, and when fish of sequential 20-mm length intervals were used. The interspecific size-class differences were consistent with the results obtained using Schoener's overlap index, for which values >0·6 were recorded for only two of the 45 possible interspecific pairwise comparisons. Since these interspecific differences occurred despite virtually identical mouth sizes and morphologies, the two species must feed in a slightly different manner and/or in different microhabitats. While most comparable-sized fish ate tanaids and amphipods, U. stotti ate more relatively mobile epibenthic mysids, cumaceans and carid decapods, whereas U. lineatus ate more larger and slower-moving burrowing bivalves, onuphid polychaetes and brachyuran crabs. The partial partitioning of habitats, when combined with differences in the diet, would help facilitate the co-existence of these two mullids when they are abundant.1998 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles

Feeding ecology and ontogenetic dietary shift of yellowstripe goatfish Mulloidichthys flavolineatus (Mullidae) at Reunion Island, SW Indian Ocean

“…A number of studies on goatfish diets are reported from the Pacific (Sorden 1982, Lukoschek & McCormick 2001, Sampey et al 2007), the tropical West Atlantic (Munro 1976, Humann & DeLoach 2002, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea (Ben-Eliahu & Golani 1990, Golani & Galil 1991, Wahbeh 1992. Published data from the Indian Ocean are scarce and concern only the genus Upeneichthys (Platell et al 1998). Sympatric mullid species can greatly differ in their depth distribution, foraging substratum selection and feeding modes (Gosline 1984, McCormick 1995, Platell et al 1998.…”

Dieta e comportamento alimentar de Malacoctenus delalandii (Perciformes: Labrisomidae)

“…Peixes bentívoros apresentam uma grande diversidade de comportamentos alimentares (Gerking 1994), além de várias adaptações morfológicas relativas ao comportamento de forrageamento e fuga de predadores, e exploram de forma eficiente os substratos bentônicos consolidados e não consolidados (Hobson & Chess 1986, McCornick 1995, Platell et al 1998. Esses peixes possuem usualmente apêndices sensoriais e maxilares inferiores móveis, predando invertebrados bentônicos associados ao fundo, enterrando a boca no substrato e engolindo parte do sedimento (Hobson & Chess 1986, Sazima 1986, Edgar & Shaw 1995.…”

Goatfishes (Mullidae) as indicators in tropical and temperate coastal habitat monitoring and management

“…Mulloidichthys dentatus (Gill, 1862) Parupeneus insularis Randall & Myers, 2002 Depth-related habitat segregation has also been observed in another species pair, the blue-lined goatfish, Upeneichthys lineatus, and U. stotti (Platell et al 1998). There are also species differences in substrate preferences and in the flexibility of using alternative habitat types (McCormick 1995;.…”

“…However, many other morphological traits of goatfishes, such as body size, coloration, head form, otolith form, or the number of countable characters, such as gillrakers, fin rays, or vertebrae, may vary interspecifically (e.g. Lachner 1954;Thomas 1969;Platell et al 1998;Uiblein et al 1998;Aguirre & Lombarte 1999;Kim 2002;Randall 2004) or intraspecifically (e.g. Fage 1909;Rosenblatt & Hoese 1968;Aguirre 1997;McCormick 1993McCormick , 1995Mamuris et al 1998;Uiblein et al 1998;Mahé et al 2005;Pothin et al 2006;Sabatini 2007).…”

“…Because of the hitherto known species-specific differences in goatfish foraging behaviour and diet selection [McCormick 1995;Platell et al 1998;; see also and Aguirre & Sánchez (2005) for the often co-occurring red mullet and striped red mullet], it may be preferable to include only those species that have been thoroughly studied in food web models. Apart from species-specific differences, whether goatfishes also undergo ontogenetic shifts in foraging behaviour, diet, and habitat selection during early (McCormick & Molony 1992;McCormick 1995) as well as later life history (Wahbeh & Ajiad 1985;Uiblein 1991;Lukoschek & McCormick 2002b; should also be considered in food web models.…”