Feeding Habits of the Non-Native Mayan Cichlid, Mayaheros Urophthalmus, in Estuarine Tributaries of Southwest Florida
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Gulf and Caribbean Research Volume 32 Issue 1 2021 Feeding Habits of the Non-Native Mayan Cichlid, Mayaheros urophthalmus, in Estuarine Tributaries of Southwest Florida Copley H. Smoak Conservancy of Southwest Florida Jeffrey R. Schmid Conservancy of Southwest Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/gcr Part of the Biology Commons To access the supplemental data associated with this article, CLICK HERE. Recommended Citation Smoak, C. H. and J. R. Schmid. 2021. Feeding Habits of the Non-Native Mayan Cichlid, Mayaheros urophthalmus, in Estuarine Tributaries of Southwest Florida. Gulf and Caribbean Research 32 (1): 57-66. Retrieved from https://aquila.usm.edu/gcr/vol32/iss1/8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18785/gcr.3201.08 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Gulf and Caribbean Research by an authorized editor of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VOLUME 25 VOLUME GULF AND CARIBBEAN Volume 25 RESEARCH March 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS GULF AND CARIBBEAN SAND BOTTOM MICROALGAL PRODUCTION AND BENTHIC NUTRIENT FLUXES ON THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO NEARSHORE SHELF RESEARCH Jeffrey G. Allison, M. E. Wagner, M. McAllister, A. K. J. Ren, and R. A. Snyder....................................................................................1—8 WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT SPECIES RICHNESS AND DISTRIBUTION ON THE OUTER—SHELF SOUTH TEXAS BANKS? Harriet L. Nash, Sharon J. Furiness, and John W. Tunnell, Jr. ......................................................................................................... 9—18 Volume 32 ASSESSMENT OF SEAGRASS FLORAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE FROM TWO CARIBBEAN MARINE PROTECTED 2021 AREAS ISSN: 2572-1410 Paul A. X. Bologna and Anthony J. Suleski ............................................................................................................................................. 19—27 SPATIAL AND SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF RED DRUM CAUGHT AND RELEASED IN TAMPA BAY, FLORIDA, AND FAC- TORS ASSOCIATED WITH POST—RELEASE HOOKING MORTALITY Kerry E. Flaherty, Brent L. Winner, Julie L. Vecchio, and Theodore S. Switzer....................................................................................29—41 CHARACTERIZATION OF ICHTHYOPLANKTON IN THE NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO FROM SEAMAP PLANK- TON SURVEYS, 1982—1999 Joanne Lyczkowski—Shultz, David S. Hanisko, Kenneth J. Sulak, Ma gorzata Konieczna, and Pamela J. Bond ..................................43—98 ł GULF AND CARIBBEAN RESEARC Short Communications DEPURATION OF MACONDA (MC—252) OIL FOUND IN HETEROTROPHIC SCLERACTINIAN CORALS (TUBASTREA COCCINEA AND TUBASTREA MICRANTHUS) ON OFFSHORE OIL/GAS PLATFORMS IN THE GULF Steve R. Kolian, Scott Porter, Paul W. Sammarco, and Edwin W. Cake, Jr........................................................................................99—103 EFFECTS OF CLOSURE OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER GULF OUTLET ON SALTWATER INTRUSION AND BOTTOM WATER HYPOXIA IN LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN Michael A. Poirrier .............................................................................................................................................................................105—109 DISTRIBUTION AND LENGTH FREQUENCY OF INVASIVE LIONFISH (PTEROIS SP.) IN THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO OF MEXICO Alexander Q. Fogg, Eric R. Hoffmayer, William B. Driggers III, Matthew D. Campbell, Gilmore J. Pellegrin, and William Stein ............................................................................................................................................................................................................111—115 NOTES ON THE BIOLOGY OF INVASIVE LIONFISH (PTEROIS SP.) FROM THE NORTHCENTRAL GULF OF MEXICO William Stein III, Nancy J. Brown—Peterson, James S. Franks, and Martin T. O’Connell ...............................................................117—120 H RECORD BODY SIZE FOR THE RED LIONFISH, PTEROIS VOLITANS (SCORPAENIFORMES), IN THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO Alfonso Aguilar—Perera, Leidy Perera—Chan, and Luis Quijano—Puerto ...........................................................................................121—123 EFFECTS OF BLACK MANGROVE (AVICENNIA GERMINANS) EXPANSION ON SALTMARSH (SPARTINA ALTERNI- FLORA) BENTHIC COMMUNITIES OF THE SOUTH TEXAS COAST Jessica Lunt, Kimberly McGlaun, and Elizabeth M. Robinson..........................................................................................................125—129 TIME—ACTIVITY BUDGETS OF STOPLIGHT PARROTFISH (SCARIDAE: SPARISOMA VIRIDE) IN BELIZE: CLEANING INVITATION AND DIURNAL PATTERNS Wesley A. Dent and Gary R. Gaston .................................................................................................................................................131—135 FIRST RECORD OF A NURSE SHARK, GINGLYMOSTOMA CIRRATUM, WITHIN THE MISSISSIPPI SOUND Jill M. Hendon, Eric R. Hoffmayer, and William B. Driggers III......................................................................................................137—139 REVIEWERS ........................................................................................................................................................................................................141 INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS ...............................................................................................................................................................142-143 Published by © 2013 The University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast Published by Research Laboratory. MARCH 2013 Printed in the United States of America ISSN: 1528—0470 703 East Beach Drive All rights reserved. No part of this publication covered by the Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564 copyright hereon may be reproduced or copied in any form or 228.872.4200 • FAX: 228.872.4204 by any means without written permission from the publisher. Ocean Springs, Mississippi www.usm.edu/gcrl Gulf and Caribbean Research Vol 32, 57-66, 2021 Manuscript received April 5, 2021; accepted June 7, 2021 DOI: 10.18785/gcr.3201.08 FEEDING HABITS OF THE NON—NATIVE MAYAN CICHLID, MAYAHEROS UROPHTHALMUS, IN ESTUARINE TRIBUTARIES OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Copley H. Smoak and Jeffrey R. Schmid* Conservancy of Southwest Florida, 1495 Smith Preserve Way, Naples, FL 34102 USA; *Corresponding author, email: [email protected] ABSTRACT: Foraging habits of the non—native Mayan Cichlid (Mayaheros urophthalmus) were investigated in the tidal tributaries to the Estero Bay and Wiggins Pass estuaries in southwest Florida (USA) during 2011—2013. Dietary analysis was conducted by identifying contents in the digestive tracts of 747 fish and volumetrically measuring the food items. Detritus was the predominant food item by frequency (97–100%), vol- ume (34–48%), and alimentary importance index (47–64%). Bivalves, gastropods, decapod and cirriped crustaceans, coleopterans, serpulid polychaetes, and fish scales frequently (>50%) occurred in samples but volume and importance differed among tributaries. Results indicate that the Mayan Cichlid in southwest Florida tidal tributaries is an opportunistic predator of hard—shelled invertebrates. Although there was consider- able overlap in dietary composition, percent volume of food items was significantly different among tributaries during dry seasons. In each tribu- tary, detritus was consumed in greater percentage during the dry season and benthic invertebrates were consumed in greater percentages during the wet season. Consumption of detritus, algae, and plant material may be incidental to predation on benthic invertebrates but more information is needed on digestion and assimilation of food items. Variability in diet among the tributaries in the current study and among other studies was presumably a function of habitat characteristics and the corresponding availability of prey types. KEY WORDS: Estero Bay, generalist, importance index, molluscivore, seasonal diet INTRODUCTION A number of introduced fish species have become es- Trophic interactions between Mayan Cichlids and na- tablished in south Florida. Anthropogenic habitats such as tive species need to be investigated to better understand the canals and other stormwater conveyances may provide refuge ecological role and potential effects of this introduced species for non—native fish during the dry season and facilitate in Florida (Bergmann and Motta 2005, Paperno et al. 2008). dispersal during the wet season (Adams and Wolfe 2007, Comprehensive descriptions of Mayan Cichlid diet are avail- Kline et al. 2013). On the one hand, there appears to be able in native brackish coastal lagoons (Caso—Chávez et al. limited evidence of impacts of non—native fish species on 1986, Martínez—Palacios and Ross 1988, Chávez—López et al. native communities (Courtenay 1997). However, quantita- 2005, Guevara et al. 2007); however, detailed information is tive analyses of community compositions have indicated an lacking on food items consumed in estuarine habitats within inverse relationship between the abundant Mayan Cichlid the introduced range of the species. The purpose of the cur- (Mayaheros urophthalmus; see Říčan et al. 2016) and native fish rent study was to fill this knowledge gap by characterizing the species inhabiting estuarine mangrove habitats (Trexler et al. feeding habits of Mayan Cichlids inhabiting tidal tributaries 2000, Harrison et al. 2013). Furthermore, Mayan Cichlids of southwest Florida estuaries. were observed competing