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Trophic ecology of a nonnative population of suckermouth catfish (Hypostomus plecostomus) in a central Texas spring-fed stream

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Abstract

Introduced suckermouth catfishes (Family Loricariidae) are now established in a number of spring-influenced streams in North America but their impacts on native biota are not well documented. Purposes of this study were to quantify gut contents of the loricariid Hypostomus plecostomus from the San Marcos River in central Texas and to evaluate the role of H. plecostomus in the San Marcos River food web using stable isotope analysis. Gut content analysis indicated that H. plecostomus (N = 36) primarily consumed amorphous detritus (87% in biovolume), filamentous red algae (5.4%), and picoplankton (4.1%). Macrophytes, macroinvertebrates, and fish eggs were not found in gut contents. Stable isotopes demonstrate that H. plecostomus occupies a trophic position indicative of an herbivore and likely utilizes detritus of algal origin. The results from our study suggest that large populations of H. plecostomus in the San Marcos River may directly compete with several native herbivorous fishes and may be disrupting trophic flows and nutrient cycling in spring-influenced streams of central and west Texas.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to members of the Bonner and Nowlin labs for their support in the field and in the lab. Funding for this study was provided by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. We are also thankful for the insightful comments from three anonymous reviewers and the editor which vastly improved this manuscript. Voucher specimens of Hypostomus pleocostomus from the study site are deposited in the fish collection at the Texas Memorial Museum at the University of Texas at Austin (Accession number 2010-12).

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  1. Katrina L. Pound

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19498, Arlington, TX, 76019-0498, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology/Aquatic Station, Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    Katrina L. Pound, Weston H. Nowlin, David G. Huffman & Timothy H. Bonner

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  1. Katrina L. Pound
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  2. Weston H. Nowlin
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Correspondence to Timothy H. Bonner.

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Pound, K.L., Nowlin, W.H., Huffman, D.G. et al. Trophic ecology of a nonnative population of suckermouth catfish (Hypostomus plecostomus) in a central Texas spring-fed stream. Environ Biol Fish 90, 277–285 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-010-9741-7

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