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- Publisher Website: 10.1111/eff.12316
- Scopus: eid_2-s2.0-84987650318
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Article: Cannibalism facilitates gigantism in a nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) population
Title | Cannibalism facilitates gigantism in a nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) population |
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Authors | |
Keywords | individual specialisation stomach content analysis parasitism stable isotope analysis Schistocephalus pungitii |
Issue Date | 2017 |
Citation | Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 2017, v. 26, n. 4, p. 686-694 How to Cite? |
Abstract | © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Cannibalism is a taxonomically widespread phenomenon that can fundamentally affect the structure and stability of aquatic communities, including the emergence of a bimodal size distribution (“dwarfs” and “giants”) in fish populations. Emergence of giants could also be driven or facilitated by parasites that divert host resources from reproduction to growth. We studied the trophic ecology of giant nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) in a Finnish pond to evaluate the hypotheses that gigantism in this population would be facilitated by cannibalism and/or parasitic infections by Schistocephalus pungitii cestode. Stomach content analyses revealed an initial ontogenetic dietary shift from small to large benthic invertebrates, followed by cannibalism on 10–20-mm-long conspecifics by giant individuals. However, stable nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) indicated a concave relationship between fish size and trophic position, with relatively low trophic position estimates suggesting only facultative cannibalism among giants. The unexpectedly high trophic position of the intermediate-sized fish may reflect substantial, but temporary, predation on eggs or young-of-the-year conspecifics, but may also partly result from starvation caused by S. pungitii infection. However, it seems implausible that parasitic infections (i.e. castration) would explain gigantism among nine-spined sticklebacks because all >100-mm giants were unparasitised. Hence, the present results suggest that an ontogenetic niche shift from an invertebrate diet to intercohort cannibalism may facilitate the occurrence of gigantism in nine-spined sticklebacks. |
Persistent Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/292970 |
ISSN | 2023 Impact Factor: 1.6 2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.606 |
ISI Accession Number ID |
DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.author | Merilä, Juha | - |
dc.contributor.author | Eloranta, Antti P. | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2020-11-17T14:57:36Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2020-11-17T14:57:36Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2017 | - |
dc.identifier.citation | Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 2017, v. 26, n. 4, p. 686-694 | - |
dc.identifier.issn | 0906-6691 | - |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/292970 | - |
dc.description.abstract | © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Cannibalism is a taxonomically widespread phenomenon that can fundamentally affect the structure and stability of aquatic communities, including the emergence of a bimodal size distribution (“dwarfs” and “giants”) in fish populations. Emergence of giants could also be driven or facilitated by parasites that divert host resources from reproduction to growth. We studied the trophic ecology of giant nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) in a Finnish pond to evaluate the hypotheses that gigantism in this population would be facilitated by cannibalism and/or parasitic infections by Schistocephalus pungitii cestode. Stomach content analyses revealed an initial ontogenetic dietary shift from small to large benthic invertebrates, followed by cannibalism on 10–20-mm-long conspecifics by giant individuals. However, stable nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) indicated a concave relationship between fish size and trophic position, with relatively low trophic position estimates suggesting only facultative cannibalism among giants. The unexpectedly high trophic position of the intermediate-sized fish may reflect substantial, but temporary, predation on eggs or young-of-the-year conspecifics, but may also partly result from starvation caused by S. pungitii infection. However, it seems implausible that parasitic infections (i.e. castration) would explain gigantism among nine-spined sticklebacks because all >100-mm giants were unparasitised. Hence, the present results suggest that an ontogenetic niche shift from an invertebrate diet to intercohort cannibalism may facilitate the occurrence of gigantism in nine-spined sticklebacks. | - |
dc.language | eng | - |
dc.relation.ispartof | Ecology of Freshwater Fish | - |
dc.subject | individual specialisation | - |
dc.subject | stomach content analysis | - |
dc.subject | parasitism | - |
dc.subject | stable isotope analysis | - |
dc.subject | Schistocephalus pungitii | - |
dc.title | Cannibalism facilitates gigantism in a nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) population | - |
dc.type | Article | - |
dc.description.nature | link_to_subscribed_fulltext | - |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1111/eff.12316 | - |
dc.identifier.scopus | eid_2-s2.0-84987650318 | - |
dc.identifier.volume | 26 | - |
dc.identifier.issue | 4 | - |
dc.identifier.spage | 686 | - |
dc.identifier.epage | 694 | - |
dc.identifier.eissn | 1600-0633 | - |
dc.identifier.isi | WOS:000409505000017 | - |
dc.identifier.issnl | 0906-6691 | - |