Threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) diet in El Rosario River estuary, its southernmost North American locality

Daniela Valenzuela-López, Gorgonio Ruiz-Campos

FiSHMED 2020.001: 13p

Abstract : The diet composition of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) at the limit of its southernmost distribution in North America (El Rosario River estuary, Baja California, Mexico) was analysed throughout five sampling events covering the wet season (November 2008, 2009 and 2011) and dry season (May 2010 and June 2013). The analysis of stomach contents of 159 threespine sticklebacks revealed 14 prey categories, of which chironomid larvae dominated the diet in most of sampling events (55-89%) except for June 2013, where leptophlebiid mayfly nymphs (73%) were mainly consumed. Differences in diet composition among size-classes and between sexes were dependent on the season (wet or dry), showing no relation with the prey size consumed. This study corroborates the high consumption of chironomid larvae as reported for the most part of its Holarctic distribution.

Keywords : Gasterosteus aculeatus, diet composition, distribution limits, Baja California

Citation : Valenzuela-López D, Ruiz-Campos G (2020) Threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) diet in El Rosario River estuary, its southernmost North American locality. Fishes in Mediterranean Environments 2020.001: 13p. https://doi.org/10.29094/FiSHMED.2020.001

Article first published online : 12 August 2020

FiSHMED is an international scientific journal edited by 
the Iberian Society of Ichthyology – SIBIC