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1 August 2015 Assessment of possible diel and sex-related differences in round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) diet
Lucie Všetičková, Michal Janáč, Kevin Roche, Pavel Jurajda
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Abstract

Several aspects of invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) biology are based on sporadic observations or anecdotal reports only, e.g. they are night feeders, they prey on eggs and larvae of native fish and male feeding ceases or is highly restricted during breeding due to nest-guarding. To test the general validity of such hypotheses, we assessed diel and inter-sex differences in diet and feeding intensity of 232 gobies (144 female [54 day:90 night] and 88 male [39 day:49 night]) caught during the breeding season. Gobies took primarily aquatic insect larvae and did not predate on eggs, larvae or juveniles of native fish. Unlike previous studies, we observed no diel difference in feeding intensity or diet composition; hence no universal diel pattern can be implied for round goby feeding. On the other hand, we observed significant inter-sex differences in both feeding intensity and diet composition, with males consuming less food than females, presumably due to restricted feeding activity during nest-guarding. Inter-sex shifts in both diet composition and amount of food were less than expected, however, suggesting that, under most conditions, there is no reason to expect a fatal decrease in male energy intake, as suggested by some earlier studies.

Lucie Všetičková, Michal Janáč, Kevin Roche, and Pavel Jurajda "Assessment of possible diel and sex-related differences in round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) diet," Folia Zoologica 64(2), 104-111, (1 August 2015). https://doi.org/10.25225/fozo.v64.i2.a3.2015
Received: 15 January 2015; Accepted: 1 July 2015; Published: 1 August 2015
KEYWORDS
Breeding season
diel feeding
inter-sex differences
invasive species
nest-guarding
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