
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Boon, Paul I. 
A1  - Bird, Fiona L. 
A1  - Bunn, Stuart E. 
T1  - Diet of the intertidal callianassid shrimps <emph type="2">Biffarius arenosus</emph> and <emph type="2">Trypea australiensis</emph> (Decapoda:Thalassinidea) in Western Port (southern Australia), determined with multiple stable-isotope analyses
JF  - Marine and Freshwater Research
JO  - Mar. Freshwater Res.
Y1  - 1997
VL  - 48
IS  - 6
SP  - 503
EP  - 511
KW  - 13C, epiphytes, estuaries, food webs, mangroves, 15N, seagrasses
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/MF97013 
N2  - Biffarius arenosus had a mean &#948;13C of &#8211;15&#183;4 &#177; 0&#183;2&#8240; and a mean &#948;15N of 5&#183;9 &#177; 0&#183;1&#8240; (n = 38), and Trypea australiensis had a mean &#948;13C of &#8211;16&#183;3 &#177; 0&#183;3 and a mean &#948;15N of 7&#183;6 &#177; 0&#183;1 (n = 20). The &#948;13C signatures of the only mangrove species present (Avicennia marina) and the most abundant saltmarsh plant (Sarcocornia quinqueflora) indicated that they were not major food sources. Seagrasses, predominantly Heterozostera tasmanica, had mean &#948;13C and &#948;15N values of &#8211;11&#183;7 &#177; 0&#183;2&#8240; (n = 65) and 3&#183;9 &#177; 0&#183;2&#8240; (n = 62), respectively. Seagrass epiphytes had mean &#948;13C and &#948;15N values of &#8211;17&#183;9 &#177; 0&#183;4&#8240; and 4&#183;6 &#177; 0&#183;3&#8240; (n = 27), respectively. A mixture of seagrasses and their epiphytes was the most likely source of organic carbon for B. arenosus. Benthic microalgae, such as diatoms, were a possible food source, but phospholipid biomarkers indicated a meagre abundance of diatoms in the sediments, and microscopy of shrimp guts revealed few or no diatom frustules. For T. australiensis, food sources were less easily distinguished than for B. arenosus, but they could include seagrass epiphytes plus the green macroalgae Enteromorpha spp. and/or the brown alga Chordaria cladisiphon. 
ER  -

