Dry Season Feeding Profiles of a Characiformes Assemblage
Seasonal droughts strongly shape how tropical stream fishes use food resources and coexist. This study examines dry-season feeding patterns of a diverse Characiformes assemblage in a small Brazilian tropical stream located in a threatened urban-protected area. Diet analyses revealed insectivory as the dominant strategy, but with clear trophic differentiation among species. While generalists such as Astyanax cf. bimaculatus exploited a wide range of resources, other species showed strong specialization linked to plant material or specific prey types. Morphological traits were closely associated with feeding strategies, indicating that body form mediates resource use under scarcity. Our findings show that dry-season resource limitation promotes trophic niche differentiation, enabling the coexistence of generalists and specialists and highlighting the ecological value of small tropical streams for biodiversity conservation.
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