- Title
- The role of macrophytes as a refuge and food source for the estuarine isopod Exosphaeroma hylocoetes ()
- Creator
- Henninger, Tony O, Froneman, P William, Richoux, Nicole B, Hodgson, Alan N
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date
- 2009
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/458360
- Identifier
- vital:75735
- Identifier
- xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2009.01.01"
- Description
- The role of submerged macrophytes as refugia from fish predation and as possible food sources for the estuarine isopod Exosphaeroma hylocoetes (Barnard, K.H., 1940) was investigated. Laboratory experiments tested the effectiveness of artificial vegetation, replicating submerged vegetation, in enabling isopods to elude selected fish predators Rhabdosargus holubi, Glossogobius callidus, Monodactylus falciformis and Clinus cottoides. Isopods preferentially hid in the vegetation (>90%), even in absence of fish. The predatory fish had varying success in finding isopods within the vegetation. Isopod mortality ranged from 2% (R. holubi) to a maximum of 87% (C. cottoides) within vegetation, depending on the fish predator present. Stable isotope and fatty acid analyses ruled out the submerged macrophyte Ruppia maritima and inundated fringing grasses as direct food sources, but highlighted the epiphytic biota (mainly diatoms) found on the submerged vegetation and sediments as more likely food sources. These findings are consistent with gut content analyses. The results suggest that the close association of E. hylocoetes with R. maritima is the result of the vegetation providing the isopod with a refuge against fish predation as well as areas of increased food availability.
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (9 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Henninger, T.O., Froneman, P.W., Richoux, N.B. and Hodgson, A.N., 2009. The role of macrophytes as a refuge and food source for the estuarine isopod Exosphaeroma hylocoetes (). Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 82(2), pp.285-293, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science volume 82 number 2 p. 285 2009 1096-0015
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Elsevier Terms and Conditions Statement (https://www.elsevier.com/legal/elsevier-website-terms-and-conditions)
- Rights
- Closed Access
- Hits: 27
- Visitors: 26
- Downloads: 2
Collections
Hodgson, Alan N (Prof)
Froneman, Pierre William (Prof)
Richoux, Nicole Bertine (Assoc Prof)
SDG 15. Life On Land
RU Department of Zoology and Entomology
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