Abstract
Field and laboratory experiments were conducted to identify the sources of food in the natural diet of postlarval brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus Ives). A series of enclosures placed in East Lagoon (29°20′N; 94°45′W) on Galveston Island, Texas, USA, in May 1985, were used to evaluate the individual and combined contribution of Spartina alterniflora detritus, epiphytes of S. alterniflora, plankton, and demersal fauna in terms of differences in shrimp growth and carbon assimilation (stable carbon-isotope analysis). Demersal fauna (harpacticoid copepods, amphipods, tanaids and polychaete annelids), and plankton (>0.095 mm) accounted for approximately 53 and 47% of the growth of the postlarvae (11 to 22 mm rostrum-telson length), respectively, while the autochthonous plant substrates, S. alterniflora detritus and epiphytes, contributed little. Laboratory experiments confirm that a mixed diet consisting of both animal protein and phytoplankton promotes maximum growth. Our results indicate that plankton may be an important allochthonous source of carbon contributing to the growth and development of shrimp in the salt marsh.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Bell, S. S., Watzin, M. C., Coull, B. C. (1978). Biogenic structure and its effects on the spatial heterogeneity of meiofauna in a salt marsh. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 35: 99–107
Boesch, D. F., Turner, R. E. (1984). Dependence of fishery species on salt marshes: the role of food and refuge. Estuaries 7: 460–468
Chong, V. C., Sasekumar, A. (1981). Food and feeding habits of the white prawn Penaeus merguiensis. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 5: 185–191
Craig, H. (1957). Isotopic standards for carbon and oxygen and correction factors for mass-spectrometric analysis of carbon dioxide. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 12: 133–149
Darnell, R. M. (1961). Trophic spectrum of an estuarine lake community, based on studies of Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. Ecology 42: 553–568
DeNiro, M. J., Epstein, S. (1978). Influence of diet on the distribution of carbon isotopes in animals. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 42: 495–506
Findlay, S., Tenore, K. (1982). Nitrogen source for a detritivore: detritus substrate versus associated microbes. Science, N.Y. 218: 371–373
Fry, B. (1984) 13C/12C ratios and the trophic importance of algae in Florida Syringodium filiforme seagrass meadows. Mar. Biol. 79: 11–19
Fry, B., Arnold, C. (1982). Rapid C-13/C-12 turnover during growth of brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus). Oecologia 54: 200–204
Fry, B., Sherr, E. B. (1984). δ13C measurements as indicators of carbon flow in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Contrib. mar. Sci. Univ. Tex. 27: 13–47
George, M. J. (1978). The food of the shrimp Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricus) caught from the backwaters. Indian J. Fish. 21: 495–500
Gleason, D. F. (1986). Utilization of salt marsh plants by post-larval brown shrimp: carbon assimilation rates and food preferences. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 31: 151–158
Gleason, D. F., Zimmerman, R. J. (1984). Herbivory potential of postlarval brown shrimp associated with salt marshes. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 84: 235–246
Haines, E. B. (1979). Interactions between Georgia salt marshes and coastal waters: a changing paradigm. In: Livingston, R. J. (ed.) Ecological processes in coastal and marine systems. Plenum Press, New York, p. 35–46
Haines, E. B., Montague, C. L. (1979). Food resources of estuarine-invertebrates analyzed using 13C/12C ratios. Ecology 60: 48–56
Hoffman, J. A., Katz, J., Bertness, M. D. (1984). Fiddler crab deposit-feeding and meiofaunal abundance in salt marsh habitats. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 82: 161–174
Hughes, E. H., Sherr, E. B. (1983). Subtidal food webs in a Georgia estuary: δ13C analysis. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 67: 227–242
Hurlbert, S. H. (1984). Pseudoreplication and the design of ecological field experiments. Ecol. Monogr. 54: 187–211
Jones, R. R. (1973). Utilization of Louisiana estuarine sediments as a source of nutrition for the brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus lves. Dissertation. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
Kitting, C. L., Fry, B., Morgan, M. D. (1984). Detection of inconspicuous epiphytic algae supporting food webs in seagrass meadows. Oecologia 62: 145–149
Kneib, R. T., Stiven, A. E. (1978). Growth, reproduction and feeding of Fundulus heteroclitus (L.) on a North Carolina salt marsh. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 31: 121–140
Kneib, R. T., Stiven, A. E. (1982). Benthic invertebrate responses to size and density manipulations of the common mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, in an intertidal salt marsh. Ecology 63: 1518–1532
Kneib, R. T., Stiven, A. E., Haines, E. B. (1980). Stable carbon isotope ratios in Fundulus heteroclitus (L.) muscle tissue and gut contents from a North Carolina Spartina marsh. J. exp. mar. Biol. Ecol. 46: 89–98
Morgan, M. D., Kitting, C. L. (1984). Productivity and utilization of the seagrass. Halodule wrightii and its attached epiphytes. Limnol. Oceanogr. 29: 1066–1076
Odum, E. P. (1980). The status of three ecosystem-level hypotheses regarding salt marsh estuaries: tidal subsidy, outwelling, and detritus-based food chains. In: Kennedy, V. S. (ed.) Estuarine perspectives. Academic Press, New York, p. 485–495
Pearson, J. C. (1939). The early life histories of some American Penaeidae chiefly the commercial shrimp Penaeus setiferus. Bull. Bur. Fish., Wash. 49: 1–73
Peterson, B. J., Howarth, R. W., Garritt, R. H. (1985). Multiple stable isotopes used to trace the flow of organic matter in estuarine food webs. Science, N.Y. 227: 1361–1363
SAS Institute Inc. (1982). SAS user's guide: statistics. Cary, North Carolina
Thayer, G. W., Stewart, H. H., Kenworthy, W. J., Ustach, J. F., Hall, A. B. (1978) Habitat values of salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses for aquatic organisms. In: Greeson, P.E., Clark, J. R., Clark, J. E. (eds.) Proceedings of the National Symposium on Wetlands, American Water Resources Association. Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A., p. 235–247
Venkataramiah, A., Lakshmi, G. J., Gunter, G. (1975) Effect of protein level and vegetable matter on the growth and food conversion efficiency of brown shrimp. Aquaculture, Amsterdam 6: 115–125
Weinstein, M. P. (1979). Shallow marsh habitats as primary nurseries for fishes and shellfish. Cape Fear River, North Carolina. Fish. Bull. U.S. 77: 339–358
Williams, A. B. (1955). A contribution to the life histories of commercial shrimps (Penaeidae) in North Carolina. Bull. mar. Sci. Gulf Caribb. 5: 116–146
Zimmerman, R. J., Minello, T., Zamora, G. (1984). Selection by Penaeus aztecus for vegetated habitat in a Galveston Bay salt marsh. Fish. Bull. (NOAA) 84: 325–336
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by J. M. Lawrence, Tampa
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gleason, D.F., Wellington, G.M. Food resources of postlarval brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus) in a Texas salt marsh. Mar. Biol. 97, 329–337 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397763
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397763