This study analyzed the diet of seven small-sized fish species (Characidae) and assessed their use of food resources. The species were collected in 2001 from nine ponds with aquatic macrophytes in the Paraná river floodplain, Brazil. Astyanax altiparanae, Astyanax fasciatus, Hemigrammus marginatus and Moenkhausia intermédia consumed aquatic and terrestrial insects. Bryconomericus stramineus and Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae co-dominantly ate insects and microcrustaceans, whereas Hyphessobrycon eques had microcrustaceans as their most important food resource. Overlapping feeding coefficients varied from intermediate (0.4-0.6) to low (< 0.4) for the majority of the combination pairs. A high mean intestinal length was verified for A. altiparanae and A.... |