Food composition, niche breadth, and overlap of Cyclocheilichthys armatus in Diatas Lake, Solok, West Sumatra, Indonesia

Q: What food categories were identified in the diet of Cyclocheilichthys armatus?

The diet consisted of phytoplankton, zooplankton, Oligochaeta, detritus, and digested food.

Q: Did diet composition vary with season, fish size, sex, or sampling location?

No. Food composition was reported as independent of season, size, sex, and location, with statistical significance reported as p < 0.05.

Q: How were niche breadth and niche overlap interpreted for this fish?

Food niche breadth was classified as medium, while niche overlap between size and sex was high, indicating potential competition if food availability in the lake is limited.

Sep 5, 2026

Upload by Olivia Brown

Seasonal investigation was conducted on the diet of Cyclocheilichthys armatus in Diatas Lake, Solok, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Food composition showed independence from season, body size, sex, and sampling location, with significant differences (p < 0.05). The diet comprised phytoplankton (Bacillariophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Cyanophyceae), zooplankton (Sarcodina, Rotatoria, Crustacea), Oligochaeta, detritus, and digested food, indicating an aneuryphagic omnivore strategy. Phytoplankton from Bacillariophyceae dominated, food niche breadth was medium, and niche overlap between size and sex was high, suggesting potential competition under limited resources, with weak positive correlation between gut food abundance and plankton abundance.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time9 min

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Abstract

Introduction

Study context: Diatas Lake

Fishing pressure and trophic ecology

Ecological role of diet in freshwater fish

Food, resource sharing, and trophic niche

Food composition, niche breadth, and overlap of Cyclocheilichthys armatus (Valenciennes, 1842) in Diatas Lake, Solok, West Sumatra, Indonesia 1,2 Rina Widiana, 2Indra J. Zakaria, 2 Dahelmi, 2Syaifullah 1 Department of Biology Education, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, PGRI West Sumatra University, 25137 Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia; 2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Andalas University, 25163 Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Corresponding author: R. Widiana, [rinaroesdi68@gmail.com](rinaroesdi68@gmail.com) Abstract. The food of Cyclocheilicthys armatus (Valenciennes, 1842) in Diatas Lake, Solok, West Sumatra, Indonesia was investigated seasonally. The food composition was independent of the season, sizes, sexes, and locations with statistical significance (p < 0.05), that were composed of 1) phytoplankton, which consisted of Bacilaryophyceae, Chlorophyceae, and Cyanophyceae, 2) zooplankton, which consisted of Sarcodina, Rotatoria, and Crustacea, 3) Oligochaeta, 4) detritus , and 5) digested food. C. armatus is aneuryphagic omnivore fish. The largest index of preponderance (IP) values for all sizes, sexes, locations, and seasons was phytoplankton from the class Bacillariophyceae. The main food of C. armatus is phytoplankton class Bacillariophyceae, complementary food for Chlorophyceae and Crustacea, and additional food for Cyanophyceae, Sarcodina, Rotatoria, Oligochaeta, and Detritus. The dominant genus in food is Navicula. The total length of the body represents 30% of the volume of food in the intestine. The niche breadth of food is classified as medium, which ranges from 0.548 to 0.641. The niche overlap index of food between size and sex is high, ranging from 0.948 to 0.989 in the rainy season and 0.962 to 0.992 in the dry season, indicating a potential for competition if food availability in the waters is limited. The index of electivity (E) ranges from-0.750 to 0.765 in the rainy season, with the largest index in the genus Ephitemia and the lowest in Fragillaria, while the dry season is -0.803 to 0.601, with the largest index in the genus Pinnularia and the smallest in Fragillaria. The abundance of food species in the intestine of C. armatus had a weak positive correlation with the abundance of plankton in the water. Key Words: diet composition, index of selectivity, index of preponderance, niche breadth, niche overlap. Introduction. Diatas Lake is one of the lakes in West Sumatra. Diatas Lake is located in two sub-districts, namely Lembah Gumanti District and Danau Kembar District, Solok Regency. Diatas Lake is a tectonic lake with an area of 12.3 km ² , a depth of 44 m, and is located at an altitude of 1 , 531 m above sea level (Nakano et al 1987) . The water source of the Diatas Lake comes from the Aie Mati River and the Batang Galagah River, while the water flows out to the Gumanti River. This lake has several potential resources for improving the community's economy, especially in the fields of tourism and agriculture (DLH 2020) . One of the resources that the Diatas Lake community utilizes to support the local economy is fishing. Diatas Lake boasts a diverse range of fish resources. Atminarso et al (2015) identified 6 species. The potential for fish production in the Diatas Lake ranges from 38 to 57 kg ha-1 year-1 with an average of 44 kg ha-1 year-1 or 54 tons year-1 (Samuel & Adiansyah 2016) . One of the fish species commonly caught in the waters of Diatas Lake is the Catua fish, Cyclocheilichthys armatus (Valenciennes, 1842), also known by its Indonesian name, Kampras (Froese & Pauly 2025) . These local references provide essential contextual framing for the lake’s fisheries and environment and will be linked to up-to-date evidence from tropical Asian freshwater studies to ensure ecological and management relevance (Atminarso et al 2015; DLH 2020) . C. armatus is an important capture-fishery species in Diatas Lake and may be increasingly exposed to fishing

FAQs

What food categories were identified in the diet of Cyclocheilichthys armatus?

The diet consisted of phytoplankton, zooplankton, Oligochaeta, detritus, and digested food.

Did diet composition vary with season, fish size, sex, or sampling location?

No. Food composition was reported as independent of season, size, sex, and location, with statistical significance reported as p < 0.05.

How were niche breadth and niche overlap interpreted for this fish?

Food niche breadth was classified as medium, while niche overlap between size and sex was high, indicating potential competition if food availability in the lake is limited.

Sep 5, 2026

Upload by Olivia Brown