摘要

This study analyzed the diet of seven small-sized fish species(Characidae) and assessed their use of food resources. The species were collected in 2001 from nine ponds with aquatic macrophytes in the Paran芍 river floodplain, Brazil. Astyanax altiparanae, Astyanax fasciatus, Hemigrammus marginatus and Moenkhausia intermedia consumed aquatic and terrestrial insects. Bryconomericus stramineus andMoenkhausia sanctaefilomenae co-dominantly ate insects and microcrustaceans, whereas Hyphessobrycon eques had microcrustaceans as their most important food resource. Overlapping feeding coefficients varied from intermediate (0.4-0.6) to low (%26lt; 0.4) forthe majority of the combination pairs. A high mean intestinal length was verified for A. altiparanae and A. fasciatus, while a smaller mean was found for H. eques. When comparing all these results, it is possible to conclude that the species were partially segregated by the trophic niche dimension. Thus, the co-existence and higherabundance of these small fish in the shoreline of the ponds is explained by high feeding adaptability, absence of specializations in the feeding tract (except intestinal length) and the wide food supply provided by aquatic macrophytes. Uso do alimento por peixes de pequeno porte associados a macr車fitas aqu芍ticas em lagoas da plan赤cie de inunda o do alto rio Paran芍. Nesse estudo foi investigada a dieta de sete esp谷cies de peixesde pequeno porte (Characidae), em nove lagoas providas de macr車fitas aqu芍ticas, da plan赤cie aluvial do alto rio Paran芍, Brasil, no ano de 2001. Astyanax altiparanae, Astyanax fasciatus, Hemigrammus marginatus e Moenkhausia intermedia consumiram insetos aqu芍ticos e terrestres; para Bryconomericus stramineus e Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae houve co-dominancia de insetos aqu芍ticos e microcrust芍ceos na dieta, enquanto que Hyphessobrycon eques exploroupredominantemente microcrust芍ceos. Os valores de sobreposi o alimentar variaram de intermedi芍rio (0,4-0,6) a baixos (%26lt; 0,4) para a maioria dos pares de esp谷cies. Com rela o ao comprimento do intestino constatou-se a maior m谷dia ajustada para A. altiparanae eA. fasciatus e a menor para H. eques. Todos esses resultados analisados conjuntamente permitem inferir que a dimens o de nicho tr車fico segregou parcialmente essas esp谷cies. E ainda que, a co-exist那ncia e elevada abundancia desses pequenos peixes nas regi esmarginais das lagoas 谷 proporcionada pela alta adaptabilidade tr車fica, pela aus那ncia de especializa es no trato digestivo (exceto para o comprimento do intestino) e pelo amplo suprimento alimentar fornecido pelas macr車

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