Abstract
Morphology plays a central role in determining diet. Knowledge of ecological and morphological relations between a species and its ecosystem is highly relevant. The aims of this study are to describe the diet and the lower pharyngeal jaw (LPJ) of Cichlasoma portalegrense and to test for the existence of ontogenetic and spatial patterns in its diet. Samplings took place in four sampling sites in Viamão, including two at the Refúgio de Vida Silvestre Banhado dos Pachecos. Collected individuals were grouped in accordance with size categories and dissected. Food items were identified and quantified for each size category in each sampling site, according to the volumetric method, related to frequency of occurrence. Four linear measurements of the LPJ were carried out. The quantity and quality of their teeth were ascertained. Teeth arrangement was also analysed. Cichlasoma portalegrense is omnivorous with a tendency to carnivory and feeds on pelagic and benthic items from different origins. It shows neither ontogenetic patterns nor spatial variation in its diet. The species can feed on any possible food resource, thus being an advantage regarding the others. The LPJ has five types of teeth, is generalist without specializations, which is an adaptive advantage, since it is already adapted to selection pressures from different kinds of food. The shape of the LPJ and teeth distribution clearly show a same arrangement, regardless of fish size categories.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to André Osorio Rosa, director of Refúgio daVida Silvestre Banhado dos Pachecos conservation unity for supporting the collecting expedition in the area. We would also like to thank our colleagues at the Laboratório de Ictiologia of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul for helpfulness during all this project, and Nuno Castanheira for translating the manuscript. This project was funded by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq.
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Fish sampling was allowed by the collection authorization number 17/2017 and registration number 583 from Secretaria do Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Sustentável- SEMA do Rio Grande do Sul and by authorization number 58917–1 from the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade - ICMBio. ICMBio Authorization for Scientific Activities is obligatory for any research project that includes field work in the Brazilian territory. Ethical approval was obtained through the Comissão de Ética no Uso de Animais - CEUA of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, where the study was conducted.
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de Souza Santos, A.A., Cavalheiro, L.W. & Fialho, C.B. Interactions between diet, pharyngeal jaw and ontogeny in Cichlasoma portalegrense (Cichliformes: Cichlidae). Environ Biol Fish 103, 1045–1059 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-020-01001-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-020-01001-7