Synopsis
Juvenile blue tilapia, Oreochromis aureus, consume both the motile green alga, Chlamydomonas sp., and the filamentous blue-green alga, Anabaena sp. Results from a grazing experiment showed little difference between the densities of grazed and ungrazed populations of Chlamydomonas, but did show a decrease in density and growth rate in the grazed Anabaena population relative to an ungrazed population. Tilapia ingesting Chlamydomonas lost weight, similar to the weight loss of unfed control fish. However, fish fed Anabaena gained weight. This study provides further evidence that blue tilapia grazing may structure phytoplankton communities directly, and their grazing could shift phytoplankton communities from dominance by large blue-green algae towards dominance by green algae.
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McDonald, M.E. Interactions between a phytoplanktivorous fish, Oreochromis aureus, and two unialgal forage populations. Environ Biol Fish 18, 229–234 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00000362
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00000362