Food composition and feeding habits of Astatotilapia flaviijosephi (Lortet) in Lake Kinneret (Israel) |
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| Authors: | P Spataru M Gophen |
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| Institution: | Fish and Aquaculture Research Station, Dor, M.P. Hof. Hacarmel, Israel 30–820, The Yigal Allan Kinneret Limnological Laboratory, P.O.B. 345 Tiberias, Israel 14–102 |
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| Abstract: | Food composition and feeding habits of 102 specimens of Astatotilapia (Haplochromis) flaviijosephi (Lortet, 1883), collected in Lake Kinneret during 1973–1975 and 1981–1982, was studied. A. flaviijosephi is relatively abundant in the littoral zone of the lake. Females feed mostly on chironomid larvae, oligochaetes and amphipods whilst males consume mostly gastropods. Small fry are rarely preyed upon or collected by both sexes. The adaptive relation between the teeth and the type of food and the ecological status of A. flaviijosephi in the Kinneret ecosystem is discussed. |
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