Feeding habits of Rachoviscus crassiceps (Teleostei: Characidae) in a coastal Atlantic rainforest stream, southern Brazil

Abstract

Feeding habits of Rachoviscus crassiceps were investigated. Samples were collected between April 2003 and January 2004 in a black water stream of the coastal Atlantic rainforest in southern Brazil. The diet, evaluated by qualitative and quantitative methods, included microcrustaceans, aquatic and terrestrial insects, algae, organic matter and arachnids. Large individuals feed mainly on terrestrial insects, aquatic immature insects (larvae and pupae) and filamentous algae, whereas small fish feed basically on aquatic immature insects and microcrustaceans. The species presented an invertivorous feeding habit, and its diet in the studied stream was composed of autochthonous (mainly aquatic immature insects) and allochthonous (mainly terrestrial insects) material. © 2007 by Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München, Germany.