Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-13T20:08:50.926Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The dynamics of predation on Gammarus spp. (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 1999

CALUM MACNEIL
Affiliation:
School of Biology and Biochemistry, The Queen's University of Belfast, Medical Biology Centre, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7BL, N. Ireland Current address: 24 The Wynd, Pelton, Chester-le-Street, Co. Durham, DH2 1EH, U.K.
JAIMIE T. A. DICK
Affiliation:
School of Biology and Biochemistry, The Queen's University of Belfast, Medical Biology Centre, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7BL, N. Ireland
ROBERT W. ELWOOD
Affiliation:
School of Biology and Biochemistry, The Queen's University of Belfast, Medical Biology Centre, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7BL, N. Ireland
Get access

Abstract

Gammarus spp. (Crustacea: Amphipoda) are widespread throughout a diverse range of marine, freshwater and estuarine/brackish habitats, often dominating benthic macroinvertebrate communities in terms of both numbers and/or biomass. Gammarus spp. are the dominant macroinvertebrate prey items of many fish, whether as a seasonal food source or a year-round staple. Selective predation by fish on Gammarus spp. is often linked to parasitism and the body size of the prey. Gammarus spp. populations are under increasing threat from both pollution and replacement/displacement by introduced species. Loss of populations and species invasions/replacements could have significant impacts on native predator species if the predator(s) cannot successfully adapt their feeding patterns to cope with non-indigenous Gammarus prey species. Despite this, many fish predation studies do not identify Gammarus prey to species level. This lack of precision could be important, as Gammarus spp. exhibit wide variations in physiochemical tolerances, habitat requirements, abilities to invade and susceptibility to replacement. Although rarely acknowledged, the impacts of non-piscean predators (particularly macroinvertebrates) on Gammarus prey species may frequently be stronger than those exerted by fish. A major aim of this review is to ascertain the current importance of Gammarus as a prey species, such that the implications of changes in Gammarus spp. populations can be more accurately assessed by interested groups such as ecologists and fisheries managers. We also review the dynamics of Gammarus spp. as prey to a diverse array of mammals, birds, amphibians, insects, flatworms, other crustaceans such as crabs and crayfish and, perhaps most importantly, other Gammarus spp.

Type
Review Article
Copyright
Cambridge Philosophical Society 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)