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Predator–prey relationship between the nototheniid fish Trematomus bernacchii and the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki at Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2004

Marino Vacchi
Affiliation:
ICRAM (Istituto Centrale per la Ricerca Applicata al Mare), via di Casalotti 300, 00166 Roma, Italy
R. Cattaneo-Vietti
Affiliation:
Istituto di Scienze Ambientali Marine, Universitá di Genovo, corso Rainusso 14, 16038 S. Margherita Ligure (Genova), Italy
M. Chiantore
Affiliation:
Istituto di Scienze Ambientali Marine, Universitá di Genovo, corso Rainusso 14, 16038 S. Margherita Ligure (Genova), Italy
M. Dalu
Affiliation:
ICRAM (Istituto Centrale per la Ricerca Applicata al Mare), via di Casalotti 300, 00166 Roma, Italy

Abstract

Little information is available regarding predator-prey interactions in High-Antarctic coastal systems. In this study, the predation of Trematomus bernacchii (Pisces: Nototheniidae) on Adamussium colbecki (Mollusca: Pectinidae) is described and the related impact on the population structure of the mollusc is hypothesized. Fishes and scallops were collected during several expeditions between 1990/91 and 1997/98 summers, in nearshore waters at Terra Nova Bay (Antarctica). Adamussium colbecki was the main food item of T. bernacchii and an ontogenetic prey-size selection was observed. The predation was mainly on medium size classes of the scallop. These were lacking in the A. colbecki population sampled in the same period suggesting that the impact of fish-feeding on the size structure of the natural population of the mollusc may be substantial. Two size classes of the Adamussium population were not preyed on. Large adults avoid predation either because of the limits for mouth gape in the fish or by swimming avoidance capability, while smaller scallops may not be preyed upon because they are attached through byssus threads to very mobile large adults.

Type
Papers—Life Sciences and Oceanography
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2000

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