Article (Scientific journals)
Food sources of two detritivore amphipods associated with the seagrass Posidonia oceanica leaf litter
Lepoint, Gilles; Cox, Anne-Sophie; Dauby, Patrick et al.
2006In Marine Biology Research, 2 (5), p. 355-365
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
 

Files


Full Text
Lepoint et al MBR2006.pdf
Author postprint (342.81 kB)
Download

All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

Send to



Details



Keywords :
Mediterranean Sea; mixing model; phytodetritus; seagrass; stable isotopes
Abstract :
[en] This study focused on the ingestion and assimilation of Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile litter by Gammarella fucicola Leach and Gammarus aequicauda Martynov, two dominant detritivore amphipods of the P. oceanica leaf litter. Scanning electron microscope observations indicated that leaf litter is highly colonized by diverse diatoms, bacteria and fungi, which may constitute a potential food source for the litter fauna. Gut content observations demonstrated that these species eat P. oceanica litter, and that this item is an important part of their ingested diet. Stable isotope analyses showed that the species do not experience the same gains from the ingested Posidonia. Gammarella fucicola displayed isotopic values, suggesting a major contribution of algal material (micro- and macro-epiphytes or drift macro-algae). On the other hand, the observed isotopic values of G. aequicauda indicated a more important contribution of P. oceanica carbon. The mixing model used agreed with this view, with a mean contribution of P. oceanica to approximately 50% (range 40-55%) of the assimilated biomass of G. aequicauda. This demonstrated that the two species, suspected to be detritus feeders, display in reality relatively different diets, showing that a certain degree of trophic diversity may exist among the detritivore community of the seagrass litter.
Research center :
MARE - Centre Interfacultaire de Recherches en Océanologie - ULiège
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Aquatic sciences & oceanology
Author, co-author :
Lepoint, Gilles  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences et gestion de l'environnement > Océanologie
Cox, Anne-Sophie
Dauby, Patrick ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences et gestion de l'environnement > Systématique et diversité animale
Poulicek, Mathieu ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences et gestion de l'environnement > Ecologie animale et écotoxicologie
Gobert, Sylvie  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences et gestion de l'environnement > Océanologie
Language :
English
Title :
Food sources of two detritivore amphipods associated with the seagrass Posidonia oceanica leaf litter
Publication date :
October 2006
Journal title :
Marine Biology Research
ISSN :
1745-1000
eISSN :
1745-1019
Publisher :
Taylor & Francis As, Oslo, Norway
Volume :
2
Issue :
5
Pages :
355-365
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique [BE]
Available on ORBi :
since 15 November 2008

Statistics


Number of views
216 (37 by ULiège)
Number of downloads
589 (36 by ULiège)

Scopus citations®
 
51
Scopus citations®
without self-citations
40
OpenCitations
 
46

Bibliography


Similar publications



Contact ORBi