ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on February 22, 2007
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2007 64(3):479-486; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsl049
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Indications of competition between non-indigenous round goby and native flounder in the Baltic Sea
1 Department of Systems Ecology, Stockholm University, SE106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
2 Hel Marine Station, Poland Institute of Oceanography, University of Gda
sk, 84150 Hel, Poland
3 Institute of Coastal Research, Swedish Board of Fisheries, Box 109, SE740 71 Öregund, Sweden
Correspondence to G. Almqvist: tel: +46 8161059; fax: +46 8158417; e-mail: gustaf{at}ecology.su.se
Karlson, A. M. L., Almqvist, G., Skóra, K. E., and Appelberg, M. 2007. Indications of competition between non-indigenous round goby and native flounder in the Baltic Sea. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 479486.The Ponto-Caspian round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) was introduced to the Gulf of Gda
sk, southern Baltic Sea, in the late 1980s, and it has now become the dominant demersal fish species in shallow water. This study aimed to assess diet preferences and the degree of diet overlap between the round goby and the native flounder (Platichthys flesus). Results from time-series of stomach contents and stable isotope analyses of wild-caught fish, together with prey preference experiments carried out in the laboratory, showed that the two species consumed similar species and sizes of prey. The similarities in diet suggest potential for food competition. Catch data showed both reverse depth distributions of round goby and flounder when round gobies were abundant and that the abundances of the two species were negatively correlated. The diet overlap between small flounders and round gobies was greatest when goby abundance was least, suggesting that abundance of round gobies may restrict flounder habitat utilization and, therefore, also food availability to the latter. Therefore, round gobies may have a negative influence on the commercially important flounder.
Keywords: diet overlap, diet preference, invasive species, ontogenetic diet shifts, stable isotopes
Received 5 July 2006; accepted 23 December 2006; advance access publication 22 February 2007.
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