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Trophic shift in young‐of‐the‐year Mugilidae during salt‐marsh colonization
Author(s) -
Lebreton B.,
Richard P.,
Guillou G.,
Blanchard G. F.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/jfb.12069
Subject(s) - salt marsh , biology , trophic level , pelagic zone , benthic zone , predation , marsh , fauna , fishery , ecology , wetland
This study investigated the trophic shift of young‐of‐the‐year ( YOY ) thinlip grey mullet Liza ramada and golden grey mullet Liza aurata during their recruitment in a salt marsh located on the European Atlantic Ocean coast. Stable‐isotope signatures ( δ 13 C and δ 15 N ) of the fishes followed a pattern, having enrichments in 13 C and 15 N with increasing fork length ( L F ): δ 13 C in fishes < 30 mm ranged from −19.5 to −15.0‰, whereas in fishes > 30 mm δ 13 C ranged from −15.8 to −12.7‰, closer to the level in salt‐marsh food resources. Large differences between the δ 15 N values of mugilids and those of food sources (6·0‰ on average) showed that YOY are secondary consumers, similar to older individuals, when feeding in the salt marsh. YOY mugilids shift from browsing on pelagic prey to grazing on benthic resources from the salt marsh before reaching 30 mm L F . The results highlight the role of European salt marshes as nurseries for juvenile mugilids.