Seasonal and ontogenetic variations in the diet of Cichla kelberi Kullander and Ferreira, 2006 introduced in an artificial lake in southeastern Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Gomiero,LM
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Outros Autores: Villares Junior,GA, Naous,F
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Brazilian Journal of Biology
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842010000500017
• topic: introduction of species; peacock bass; Cichla kelberi

The diet of Cichla kelberi introduced in an artificial lake in Leme-SP was predominantly composed of common fish species (Oreochromis niloticus and C. kelberi). In the spring and summer, the most consumed item was O. niloticus. However, cannibalism was very common for this species. The high frequencies of O. niloticus and C. kelberi reveal that this species is adapted to a seasonal cycle, feeding on the most common prey in each period of the year, with a reduction of foraging activity during the winter. The diets were different among the immature and mature individuals suggesting that there are ontogenetic differences, mainly related to prey type, such as: Ephemeroptera consumed by the immature peacock bass and fish by the mature ones, besides the size of the prey.