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Fruit of the forest ‐ larval sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus are fuelled by allochthonous resources
Author(s) -
Hayden Brian,
Ferron Myriam,
Cunjak Richard A.,
Samways Kurt
Publication year - 2019
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.14064
Subject(s) - petromyzon , biology , lamprey , trophic level , ecology , detritus , benthic zone , predation , larva , invertebrate , fishery
We used stable isotopes of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen to quantify the trophic position and resource use of larval sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus , four benthic macroinvertebrate functional feeding guilds (scraper, shredder, collector and predator) and other fishes in three rivers in eastern Canada. Larval lamprey and most invertebrate guilds foraged as primary consumers in all rivers whereas all other fishes predominantly foraged as secondary consumers. Larval lamprey obtained 75–85% of their resources from allochthonous derived material. This level exceeded all invertebrate guilds, which assimilated approximately 50% allochthonous and 50% autochthonous materials and fishes, which predominantly assimilated between 25% and 60% allochthonous material. Larval lamprey occupied a unique position within the river food webs analysed and show remarkable fidelity to a trophic niche specialising on terrestrially derived detritus.