摘要
Se analiza la estructura y categor赤as tr車ficas de la comunidad de peces asociados a praderas de Thalassia testudinum del golfo de Cariaco, Venezuela. Las capturas de peces se realizaron desde diciembre 1996 hasta noviembre 1997, utilizando una red tipo chinchorro. Se cuantificaron los individuos, se calcul車 la abundancia total de las especies, la riqueza espec赤fica total y la frecuencia de aparici車n. Se determin車 la categor赤a tr車fica de cada especie, estableci谷ndose cinco categor赤as: carn赤voros, herb赤voros, omn赤voros, planct赤voros y detrit赤voros. Mediante un dendrograma se estableci車 el grado de similitud alimentaria entre las distintas especies y su categor赤a tr車fica. Se colectaron 15.509 peces pertenecientes a 27 familias y 44 especies. Se determinaron 23 especies carn赤voras (57%), ocho omn赤voras (20%), cinco planct赤voras (13%), dos herb赤voras y dos detr赤tivoras (5%). De las especies carn赤voras se identificaron 12 especies de escasa presencia. Las 迆nicas especies herb赤voras fueron Nicholsina usta y Nicholsina usta. El dendrograma mostr車 dos grupos principales, el grupo A formado por especies omn赤voras y carn赤voras y el grupo B, conformado por especies detrit赤voras, herb赤voras y planct赤voras The trophic structure and categories of the fish community associated with Thalassia testudinum meadows in the Golfo de Cariaco, Venezuela, were analyzed. The fish were caught from December 1996 through November 1997, using a seine-type net. Specimens were quantified and the total species abundance, total species richness, and frequency of appearance were calculated. Each species was placed into one of five trophic categories: carnivorous, herbivorous, omnivorous, planktivorous, and detritivorous. A dendrogram was used to establish the degree of similarity in food between the different species and trophic categories. The 15,509 fish collected belonged to 27 families and 44 species. Of these, 23 species were found to be carnivorous (57%), eight omnivorous (20%), five planktivorous (13%), two herbivorous, and two detritivorous (5%). Twelve of the carnivorous species were scarce. The only herbivorous species were Nicholsina usta and Nicholsina usta. The dendrogram showed two main groups: group A, made up of omnivorous and carnivorous species and group B, consisting of detrivorous, herbivorous, and planktivorous species