Diet of the coral hawkfish Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus (Family: Cirrhitidae) in a fringing coral reef of the Eastern Trop
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Diet of the coral hawkfish Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus (Family: Cirrhitidae) in a fringing coral reef of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Stephania Palacios-Narva´ez1,2
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Bellineth Valencia1
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Alan Giraldo1
Received: 4 June 2020 / Accepted: 28 September 2020 Ó Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Hawkfishes are small demersal reef predators. Although their association with the coral substrate has been widely documented for some species, information regarding their feeding habits is limited, especially in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP). We characterized the diet of the coral hawkfish Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus in Isla Gorgona (ETP) by visually analyzing its gut contents and calculating its trophic niche breadth. Crustaceans were the most important (relative importance: 73%) and frequent prey found in 89% of the stomachs analyzed. Among crustaceans, copepods were the most abundant prey, suggesting that C. oxycephalus in Isla Gorgona has a specialized diet. In terms of biomass, decapods represented the highest contribution to the diet. Other prey items included micromolluscs and fish. This study highlights the strong trophic link between coral-dwelling reef fish and mobile invertebrates that comprise the coral reef cryptic fauna, and
Topic Editor Morgan S. Pratchett
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02007-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. & Stephania Palacios-Narva´ez [email protected] Bellineth Valencia [email protected] Alan Giraldo [email protected] 1
Coral Reef Ecology Research Group, Department of Biology, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
2
Red Sea Research Center, Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
therefore, the indirect benefit that live coral cover has for this species. Keywords Coral reef fishes Stomach contents Trophic interactions Colombian Pacific
Introduction Hawkfishes (family Cirrhitidae) are small demersal reef predators widely distributed in tropical reefs (Coker et al. 2015, 2017). These fishes are usually found on the reef substrate, which offers them protection against predators and a strategic point for hunting small fish and invertebrates (Schmitt et al. 2009; Leray et al. 2013; Coker et al. 2015, 2017). Hawkfishes are potential prey for larger fishes, playing an important role in coral reef food webs by transferring energy to larger predators (Hempson et al. 2017; Coker et al. 2017). Because most hawkfishes are strictly associated with branched coral (e.g. Pocillopora spp.) and their movement is restricted to the coral branches, these predators live in close proximity to coral-associated invertebrates that comprised their main prey (Stier and Leray 2014). Mesopredators such as hawkfishes that feed upon small cryptic species, may modify the composition and abundan
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