Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 5 December 1986:
Vol. 234. no. 4781, pp. 1256 - 1258
DOI: 10.1126/science.234.4781.1256
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Energy Sources for Detritivorous Fishes in the Amazon

CARLOS A. R. M. ARAUJO-LIMA 1, BRUCE R. FORSBERG 2, REYNALDO VICTORIA 3, and LUIZ MARTINELLI 3

1 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA/Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento para Pesquisa), Divisão de Biologia e Evolucão de Peixes, Departamento de Biologia e Limnologia, CP-478, 69083 Manaus, Am. Brasil.
2 Quatemary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
3 Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA/Universidade de São Paulo), CP-96, 13400 Piracicaba, SP, Brasil.

Detritivorous fishes form an important part of the ichthyomass in the Amazon basin. Most of these fishes are contained in the orders Characiformes and Siluriformes (catfishes). The Characiformes constitute more than 30% of the total fish yield in the Amazon basin, whereas the catfishes are of minor importance. Stable isotope data indicate that Characiformes species receive most of their carbon through food chains originating with phytoplankton, while the Siluriformes receive a significant part of their energy from other plant sources.

Submitted on June 9, 1986
Accepted on September 15, 1986


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
A Major Food Web Component in the Orinoco River Channel: Evidence from Planktivorous Electric Fishes.
J. G. LUNDBERG, W. M. LEWIS JR., J. F. SAUNDERS III, and F. MAGO-LECCIA (1987)
Science 237, 81-83
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)