1999
DOI: 10.1007/s004420050930
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Foraging of rocky habitat cichlid fishes in Lake Malawi: coexistence through niche partitioning?

Abstract: The haplochromine cichlid fish communities of the rocky habitats of Lake Malawi are highly diverse; however, many species live side by side with apparently very similar resource requirements. There is a long-standing debate concerning whether these species partition their resources on a finer scale than has been previously reported or if species that are truly ecologically indistinguishable can coexist. A field study of food resource use was conducted to determine whether coexisting species segregate their die… Show more

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Cited by 67 publications
(64 citation statements)
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“…Scale bars represent 500 mm, 100 mm and 500 mm, respectively. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4144 ARTICLE flexible, elongate, closely spaced teeth [32][33][34][35][36] , similar to those seen in specialized detritivores on coral reefs. The similarity in morphology between marine and freshwater groups reflects a common challenge, selectively removing fine particulate material from algal turfs on a hard substratum (the epilithic algal matrix, EAM on reefs 37 and aufwuchs in the African rift lakes 33 ).…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 82%
“…Scale bars represent 500 mm, 100 mm and 500 mm, respectively. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4144 ARTICLE flexible, elongate, closely spaced teeth [32][33][34][35][36] , similar to those seen in specialized detritivores on coral reefs. The similarity in morphology between marine and freshwater groups reflects a common challenge, selectively removing fine particulate material from algal turfs on a hard substratum (the epilithic algal matrix, EAM on reefs 37 and aufwuchs in the African rift lakes 33 ).…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 82%
“…Spatial and temporal structuring of eastern populations of Sillago robusta and S. flindersi was evident along a number of gradients suggesting possible partitioning of resources similar to other sympatric Sillaginidae (Hyndes et al 1996a(Hyndes et al ,b, 1997 and teleost families (Ross 1977, Genner et al 1999). In general, S. robusta was more prevalent in the shallow strata whereas S. flindersi mostly occurred in the mid strata, while neither species consistently utilised the deep strata.…”
Section: Population Structuring and Habitat Partitioningmentioning
confidence: 92%
“…For instance, in the most species-rich Malawi cichlid group, the mbuna, several hundred species all obtain their nutrition primarily from the algal mats that cover the rocky shores they exclusively inhabit. This considerable overlap in trophic habits and feeding locations among the mbuna calls into question what factors, if any, are facilitating the coexistence of so many unique species (Bouton et al, 1999;Genner et al, 1999;Genner and Turner, 2005;Siepielski and McPeek, 2010). However, microhabitat divergence, even within these algivorous mbuna species, does occur.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%