Acta Amazonica (Dec 2022)

Predation on pirarucu larvae by opportunistic fish species

  • Adriana Ferreira LIMA,
  • Anderson Guilherme Pereira dos REIS,
  • Alberto AKAMA,
  • Patricia Oliveira MACIEL-HONDA

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4392202201430
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 52, no. 4
pp. 299 – 302

Abstract

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ABSTRACT One of the constraints in pirarucu, Arapaima gigas farming is the reproduction in captivity, due to inconsistent number of spawning events per reproductive cycle, thus, unreliable availability of juvenile fish. This is a first-hand report on predation of pirarucu larvae by opportunistic fish species in a breeding pond. Fish samples were collected for stomach content analysis from a pirarucu-breeding pond with reported predation on the larvae. We obtained 61 fish of different species (Tetragonopterus sp., Astyanax bimaculatus, Moenkhausia intermedia, Hoplias malabaricus, and Apistogramma sp.). Tetragonopterus sp. stomachs had the highest frequency of occurrence of pirarucu larvae (83.3%), followed by A. bimaculatus (7.4%). The relationship between the feeding behaviour of these species and their predation upon pirarucu offspring is discussed.

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