ABSTRACT Recruiting King George whiting Sillaginodes punctatus were studied to assess the potential for food competition with permanent resident fish species in a nursery habitat. Marine migrant post larval S. punctatus (<60 mm TL) consumed primarily harpacticoid copepods and had high (>0.6) diet overlap with permanent resident fish species Favonigobius leteralis and Stigmatopora nigra. Food electivity index indicated that S. punctatus juveniles preferred harpacticoid copepods and amphipods, while juvenile Heteroclinus adelaide and Gymnapistes marmoratus migrating to the nursery habitat targeted larger prey such as amphipods. Preference for larger prey by H. adelaide and G. marmoratus species coupled with differences in prey composition in the stomach was due to mouth size and feeding habits, resulting in different food preferences to S. punctatus. The whiting showed an ontogenetic shift in diet with early settlers (>60 mm TL) consuming less copepods and more amphipods, while previous year recruits (>120 mm TL) consumed polychaete worms. This study indicates that competition for food resources between the new recruiting S. punctatus juveniles and permanent resident juveniles is reduced through differences in temporal and spatial feeding behaviours, mouth morphology, and ontogenetic shift in prey consumption.

中文翻译：

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海草栖息地常住居民招鱼的食物竞争与资源分配评价

摘要 研究了招募乔治王鳕鱼 Sillaginodes punctatus 以评估在苗圃栖息地中与永久居民鱼类进行食物竞争的潜力。海洋迁徙后幼虫 S. punctatus (<60 mm TL) 主要消耗 harpacticoid 桡足类，并且与永久居民鱼种 Favonigobius leteralis 和 Stigmatopora nigra 的饮食重叠程度较高（>0.6）。食物选择性指数表明，S. punctatus 幼鱼更喜欢harpacticoid 桡足类和片脚类动物，而Heteroclinus adelaide 和Gymnapistes marmoratus 的幼鱼迁移到苗圃栖息地，以较大的猎物为目标，如片脚类动物。H. adelaide 和 G. marmoratus 物种对较大猎物的偏好，加上胃中猎物成分的差异是由于嘴巴大小和进食习惯，导致对 S. marmoratus 的食物偏好不同。点状。鳕鱼表现出饮食的个体发育转变，早期定居者（> 60 mm TL）消耗较少的桡足类和更多的片脚类动物，而前一年新兵（> 120 mm TL）消耗多毛类蠕虫。这项研究表明，新招募的 S. punctatus 幼鱼和常住幼鱼之间的食物资源竞争通过时空进食行为、口腔形态和猎物消费的个体发生变化的差异而减少。