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The very hungry amphipod: the invasive Dikerogammarus villosus shows high consumption rates for two food sources and independent of predator cues

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Abstract

The invasion of the Ponto–Caspian amphipod Dikerogammarus villosus in European rivers is assumed to reduce macroinvertebrate diversity and to alter ecosystem functions. D. villosus shows an extraordinarily flexible feeding behavior including the ability to use various food sources. On the other hand, its response to predation risk seems to depend on environmental factors. To evaluate the ecological function of D. villosus, we estimated the daily food consumption for different food sources and analyzed potential effects of predator avoidance behavior on feeding. D. villosus consumption of willow leaves or chironomid larvae was quantified in 24-h laboratory experiments with and without kairomones of the European bullhead (Cottus gobio). Consumption rates were estimated based on gut content and gut evacuation rate under semi-natural laboratory conditions enabling the animals to feed over the whole time of the evacuation rate experiment. We observed very high evacuation rates and consequently high consumption rates up to 89% of body weight per day. Consumption rates differed significantly between food sources: D. villosus ingested more leaves than chironomid larvae. In contrast, predator cues did not affect the feeding of D. villosus. This might be explained by its strong refuge affinity and probably benefits its successful invasion. A comparison of the estimated consumption rates with results of an own consumption experiment (and other studies) under more artificial conditions indicated that more natural conditions result in higher consumption rates. Consequently, feeding rates from highly artificial experiments should be used with great caution to assess the ecosystem function of D. villosus.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as a part of the Emmy Noether project WI 3592/1. We would like to thank Thomas Berendonk, Kristin Berg, Anne Großmann, Stephanie Graumnitz, Felix Grunicke, Fanny Hempel, Steffen Kunze, Ulrike Mogck, Thomas Petzoldt, Thomas Schendel, Ulrike Schmalfuß, Janno Worischka and Christiane Zschornack for their help in field and laboratory, for technical support and constructive discussions of statistical analysis. We greatly acknowledge the support of René Gergs and Jonas Jourdan by providing us with original data contributing to our comparison of leaf consumption rates. Many thanks are also due to two anonymous reviewers for their comments improving the manuscript.

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  1. Institute of Hydrobiology, University of Technology Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany

    Luise Richter & Susanne Worischka

  2. Institute of Integrated Natural Sciences, University Koblenz-Landau, Universitätsstrasse 1, 56070, Koblenz, Germany

    Lisa Schwenkmezger, Jochen Becker, Carola Winkelmann, Claudia Hellmann & Susanne Worischka

  3. biota - Institute for Environmental Research and Planning, Nebelring 15, 18246, Bützow, Germany

    Claudia Hellmann

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Richter, L., Schwenkmezger, L., Becker, J. et al. The very hungry amphipod: the invasive Dikerogammarus villosus shows high consumption rates for two food sources and independent of predator cues. Biol Invasions 20, 1321–1335 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1629-4

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