Diet composition and feeding strategy of larvae and juveniles of green riffle goby, Stiphodon elegans in Cimaja Estuary, Indonesia

Abstract

Green riffle goby, Stiphodon elegans, is an amphidromous goby living in Cimaja River, Sukabumi. Postflexion and juvenile stages of this species migrate from the sea to the river estuary for the recruitment process both in the day and nighttime. The presence of prey strongly influences the success of the recruitment process. The present study, therefore, aims to reveal the diet preferences and feeding strategies of postflexion larvae and juveniles of the green riffle goby during the recruitment process. Postflexion larvae and juveniles of S. elegans were collected day and nighttime using a lift net from December 2020 to May 2021 in the Cimaja River estuary. A total of 13,955 larvae and juveniles were captured. For diet analysis, 455 fish larvae and juveniles were analyzed, consisting of 47 larvae (8.9-11.8 BL) and 408 juveniles (11.9-21.8 BL). The diet composition of postflexion larvae comprised five genera from three different classes of benthic microalgae and zoobenthic. In comparison, fish juveniles' prey composition comprised 15 genera from 5 different classes of benthic microalgae and zoobenthic. The postflexion larva tends to be more specialized than the juvenile in utilizing prey. There is no significant difference in the diet composition and feeding strategy of postflexion larvae and juveniles during the day and nighttime (p>0.05).