Journal Article
The feeding habits of Austrolethops wardi, a gobiid fish inhabiting burrows of the thalassinidean shrimp Neaxius acanthus
Liu, H.T.H., Kneer, D., Asmus, H. and Ahnelt, H.
Record Number:
4870
Year:
2008
Journal:
Esturine, Coastal and Shelf Science
Pages:
764-767
Volume:
79
Abstract:
The feeding habit of Austrolethops wardi (Gobiidae) in the seagrass beds of Barrang Lompo and Bone
Batang Island in the Spermonde Archipelago, South West Sulawesi, Indonesia, was investigated through
gut content analysis. The feeding preferences of this species are very similar on both islands: A. wardi,
a burrow associate of Neaxius acanthus, was found to feed almost exclusively on seagrass (which was
found in 100% of the investigated stomachs and made up >94% of food items). However, seagrass
epiphytes (<5% of food items) and animal food (<1% of food items) occurred in the guts as well, the latter
predominantly in terms of copepods and to a lesser degree in other small invertebrates. These results
indicate that animal food is of little importance for A. wardi. Some specimens even contained no parts of
animal food.
Times Cited:
2