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Particle‐Grazing and Plankton Community Impact of an Omnivorous Cichlid
Author(s) -
Drenner Ray W.,
Taylor Scott B.,
Lazzaro Xavier,
Kettle Dean
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1984)113<397:papcio>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - biology , zooplankton , omnivore , plankton , phytoplankton , tilapia , algae , cichlid , predation , ecology , fishery , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , nutrient
We determined selective ingestion of different sizes of suspended polystyrene particles by filter‐feeding blue tilapia Tilapia aurea. Blue tilapias from 4.3 to 18.7 cm standard length selectively fed on particles larger than 25 μm. We compared the plankton communities of pond quadrants with and without fish. Blue tilapias suppressed populations of the large‐sized algae Uroglenopsis sp. and Ceratium sp. and the zooplankter Keratella sp. Populations of the small‐sized algae Rhodomonas sp., Chrysochromulina sp., Chlamydomonas sp. and Cyclotella sp. and the zooplankter Diaptomus sp. were enhanced by the presence of blue tilapia. As an omnivorous filter feeder, blue tilapias act as size‐selective phytoplankton grazers and escape‐selective zooplankton predators. Received August 26, 1983 Accepted March 24, 1984