Feeding habits of five dominant fish species from Matang Mangrove Estuaries, Malaysia based on stomach contents and stable isotope analyses
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Date
2021-05-14
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Square
Abstract
The centres of mangrove biodiversity and productivity have been under-represented in studies of fish diet and habitat utilization, particularly in relation to environmental changes between wet and dry seasons. Feeding habits of five dominant fish species (Thryssa kammalensis, Ambassis gymnocephalus, Escualosa thoracata, Stolephorus baganensis and Johnius belangerii) were investigated from two sites in the Matang Mangrove ecosystem, Perak Malaysia, with sampling encompassing both wet and dry seasons. The stomach fullness of the fish was on average significantly higher in the wet season (48%) than in the dry season (32%) with isopods and copepods forming a more important component of the fish diet during the wet season than the dry season. The stomach contents of each species were, on average: T. kammalensis {(Animal based (A) = 50.11%, Plant based (P) = 38.24%)}, A. gymnocephalus (A = 50.35%, P = 37.99%), E. thoracata (A = 42.09%, P = 44.4%), S. baganensis (A = 38.17%, P = 46.55%) and J. belangerri (A = 25.35%, P = 58.86%). Therefore, all five fish species can be considered omnivorous. The similarity among diets varied from 60-80% during the wet and dry season. During the dry season, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of the samples had less variation, indicating narrow dietary sources compared to the wet season where the distribution of their isotopic values was larger. Seasons should be considered for planning mangrove management, as results of this study found contracted trophic breadth for commercially valuable fish in the dry season. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License.
Description
This preprint is under consideration at Wetlands. A preprint is a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal.
Keywords
Fishes, Estuaries, Mangroves, Malaysia, Stable isotopes, Seasons, Diet, Food
Citation
Azim, M. K. M, Amin, S. M. N., Mazumder, D., Arshad, A., Yusoff, F. M. & Saintilan, N. (2021). Feeding habits of five dominant fish species from Matang Mangrove Estuaries, Malaysia based on stomach contents and stable isotope analyses. Research Square, 2021, Preprint (Version 1). doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-388172/v1