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Influence of feeding structures and early development on foraging guild assignment in four co-occurring fishes (Family Sciaenidae)

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Abstract

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.

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Data availability

All physical specimens examined over the course of this study are deposited at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Nunnally Ichthyology Collection. Datasets and images generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank one anonymous reviewer and Dr. Eric Hilton for their invaluable guidance that greatly improved the quality of this manuscript. I would also like to thank Drs. Sarah Huber and Eric Hilton from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Nunnally Ichthyology Collection for the curation and access to specimens used in this study. Additional specimens of larval L. fasciatus were provided by the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, University of Southern Mississippi. The findings and conclusions in the paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Marine Fisheries Service. Mention of trade names does not imply endorsement by NOAA or any of its subagencies. This is contribution number EcoFOCI-0941 of Ecosystems and Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations.

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  1. Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA

    Alison L. Deary

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  1. Alison L. Deary
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Correspondence to Alison L. Deary.

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The author does not have a conflict of interest for the work that was conducted for the study.

Ethical approval

All fish collection and handling procedures were approved by the College of William and Mary Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (protocol number: IACUC-2014-05-12-9603-dtuck).

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Deary, A.L. Influence of feeding structures and early development on foraging guild assignment in four co-occurring fishes (Family Sciaenidae). Mar Biol 167, 51 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-3661-7

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