The use of a functional guild, which distills organisms into groups based on a shared role within an ecosystem, is a beneficial tool for fisheries management because it reduces data complexity, streamlines statistical analyses, and places species in an ecosystem context by defining their functional role within a community. However, few studies consider the ramification of ontogeny on guild assignments and assume species occupy a static foraging guild throughout their lives. The aim for this study was to examine the development of feeding structures and diet in four, closely related species of sciaenids (Family Sciaenidae) that forage in the water column throughout their life history (1) to determine if the structures needed to exploit microhabitat use of the water column are present at early ontogenetic stages and (2) to assess guild transitions using a hierarchical clustering approach. Significant differences were only detected in ascending process length and cb1 gill raker count among the examined sciaenids. Larimus fasciatus consumed zooplankton throughout ontogeny and possessed a shorter ascending process and a greater number of cb1 gill rakers. Cynoscion nebulosus transitioned from zooplanktivory in the larval period to piscivory as an early juvenile and possessed a longer ascending process and fewer cb1 gill rakers. Bairdiella chrysoura and C. regalis were both zooplanktivorous as early juveniles and consumed more epibenthic (benthic crustaceans and worms) prey and possessed more elongate gill rakers compared to C. nebulosus . Foraging studies that combine diet and morphological analyses are needed to place individuals into foraging guilds while capturing key life history transitions that influence foraging habits and guild assignment.

中文翻译：

---

摄食结构和早期发育对四种共生鱼类（Sciaenidae）觅食行会分配的影响

使用功能性行会，根据生态系统中的共同作用将生物分类，是渔业管理的有益工具，因为它降低了数据复杂性，简化了统计分析，并通过定义物种的功能作用将物种置于生态系统环境中一个社区内。然而，很少有研究考虑个体发育对公会分配的影响，并假设物种在其一生中占据一个静态的觅食公会。这项研究的目的是检查四个国家的喂养结构和饮食的发展，在整个生命史中在水体中觅食的近缘鱼科（Sciaenidae）物种 (1) 以确定利用水体的微生境利用所需的结构是否存在于早期个体发育阶段和 (2) 评估行会转变使用层次聚类方法。仅在被检查的 sciaenids 中的上升过程长度和 cb1 鳃耙计数中检测到显着差异。Larimus fasciatus 在整个个体发育过程中都消耗浮游动物，并且具有较短的上升过程和更多数量的 cb1 鳃耙。Cynoscion nebulosus 从幼虫时期的浮游动物过渡到幼鱼时期的食鱼，并且具有更长的上升过程和更少的 cb1 鳃耙。Bairdiella chrysoura 和 C. 与 C. nebulosus 相比，regalis 在早期幼鱼时都是以浮游动物为食的，并且消耗更多的底栖动物（底栖甲壳类动物和蠕虫）猎物，并且拥有更细长的鳃耙。需要结合饮食和形态分析的觅食研究将个体放入觅食行会，同时捕捉影响觅食习惯和行会分配的关键生活史转变。