New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
Prey selection and dietary overlap of shortfinned (Anguilla australis)
and longfinned (A. dieffenbachii) eels during summer in the Horokiwi
Stream, New Zealand
P. M. Sagar
E. Graynoth
G. J. Glova
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric
Research Limited
P.O. Box 8602
Christchurch, New Zealand
email: psagar@niwa.co.nz
Abstract Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected and
the diets of shortfinned eels (Anguilla australis) and longfinned
eels (Anguilla dieffenbachii) inhabiting a small coastal New Zealand
stream were examined to investigate intraspecific and interspecific trophic
partitioning and prey selection. Our results showed intraspecific segregation
of preferred prey among three size classes of juvenile shortfinned eels,
but there was significant overlap between different size classes of longfinned
eels. All size classes of both species of eel fed nocturnally on similar
prey, and so there was no indication of temporal or trophic segregation.
Therefore, habitat separation is assumed to be the main mechanism to reduce
interspecific competition in these two co-occurring species of eels.
Keywords diel feeding; competition; trophic partitioning;
Anguillidae
M04152; Online publication date 17 June 2005 Received 19 November 2004;
accepted 23 February 2005
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2005, Vol. 39:
931-939
0028-8330/05/3904-0931 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2005
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