Cambios alimenticios en tres especies de Sphoeroides (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae) posterior al huracán Isidoro en Bocana de la Carbonera, Sureste del Golfo de México

Feeding changes for three Sphoeroides species (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae) after Isidore hurricane impact in Carbonera Inlet, Southeastern Gulf of Mexico. The coexistence of ecologically similar species may occur because of resources distribution, such as prey and habitat type and segregation time, that minimizes the interspecific competition. The changes brought about by Hurricane Isidore in the distribution of food resources by three coexisting fish species of the family Tetraodontidae (Sphoeroides nephelus, S. spengleri and S testudineus), were analyzed at the Carbonera Inlet. Sphoeroides spp. based their food on benthic organisms; principally, they consume mussels (Brachidontes sp.), barnacles (Balanus sp.) and gastropods (Crepidula sp). Before hurricane impact, the three species share the available food resources in different proportions (bivalves, gastropods, barnacles and decapods), according to different strategies that enabled them to coexist and reduce interspecific competition. After the impact, the abundance of available prey decreased and the interespecific competition for food increased, leading to S. testudines and S. nephelus change their trophic spectrum (xiphosurans, amphipods, isopods and detritus) and displacing S. splengleri of the inlet. The distribution of food resources was conditioned by the abundance and diversity of prey, as well as the adaptive response of each species. Rev. Biol. Trop. 58 (4): 1223-1235. Epub 2010 December 01.

Se analizan los cambios producidos por el huracán Isidoro en la repartición de los recursos alimenticios de tres especies de peces de la familia Tetraodontidae (Sphoeroides nephelus, S. spengleri y S testudineus) que cohabitan en la Bocana de la Carbonera (sureste del Golfo de México). Los Sphoeroides spp. basaron su alimentación en los organismos bentónicos, sobresaliendo por su consumo el mejillón (Brachidontes sp.), la lapa (Balanus sp.) y gasterópodos (Crepidula sp.). Previo al impacto del huracán, las tres especies utilizaron de forma diferencial los recursos alimenticios disponibles (bivalvos, gasterópodos, cirrípedos y decápodos) recurriendo a diferentes estrategias que les permitieron minimizar la competencia interespecífica y coexistir. Posterior al impacto, la disponibilidad de las presas disminuyó y la competencia interespecífica por el alimento se incrementó provocando que S. testudineus y S. nephelus cambiaran su espectro trófico (xiphosuros, anfípodos, isópodos y detritus) desplazando a S. spengleri de la bocana. La repartición de los recursos alimenticios estuvo condicionada por la abundancia y diversidad de las presas así como la respuesta adaptativa de cada especie.

[Feeding changes for three Sphoeroides species (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae) after Isidore hurricane impact in Carbonera Inlet, Southeastern Gulf of Mexico]. / Cambios alimenticios en tres especies de Sphoeroides (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae) posterior al huracán Isidoro en Bocana de la Carbonera, Sureste del Golfo de México.

The coexistence of ecologically similar species may occur because of resources distribution, such as prey and habitat type and segregation time, that minimizes the interspecific competition. The changes brought about by Hurricane Isidore in the distribution of food resources by three coexisting fish species of the family Tetraodontidae (Sphoeroides nephelus, S. spengleri and S testudineus), were analyzed at the Carbonera Inlet. Sphoeroides spp. based their food on benthic organisms; principally, they consume mussels (Brachidontes sp.), barnacles (Balanus sp.) and gastropods (Crepidula sp). Before hurricane impact, the three species share the available food resources in different proportions (bivalves, gastropods, barnacles and decapods), according to different strategies that enabled them to coexist and reduce interspecific competition. After the impact, the abundance of available prey decreased and the interespecific competition for food increased, leading to S. testudines and S. nephelus change their trophic spectrum (xiphosurans, amphipods, isopods and detritus) and displacing S. splengleri of the inlet. The distribution of food resources was conditioned by the abundance and diversity of prey, as well as the adaptive response of each species.