Feeding of Barbus cyclolepis Heckel, 1837 (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) and its relationship with benthic macroinvertebrate fauna in the Istranca Stream (İstanbul, Turkey)

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The aims of the study are to determine what the organisms Barbus cyclolepis consume as food in its feeding environments and to compare prey consumption with prey abundance in the environment. The study was conducted in the Istranca Stream located in Istanbul (Turkey) during the spring and summer of 2012. A total of 142 B. cyclolepis specimens were captured and it is determined that 94 of them had full digestive tracts. Diet analyses of B. cyclolepis showed that its food spectrum consisted of 11 different food types, and the species was found to feed on insects, mainly Diptera (IRI%= 92.26%). The most abundant macroinvertebrate organisms in the environment were Diptera and Gastropoda. The electivity index of B. cyclolepis was positive for Diptera in the spring (E= 0.49), but the value was below the expected value of 0.6 for high selectivity. The electivity values for other macroinvertebrate groups, consumed in low proportions, were negative. In summer, the fish fed on Diptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera, but a high electivity index value was found only for Trichoptera (E= 0.87). Results showed that B. cyclolepis mainly consumed Diptera as food and did not consume Gastropoda, although it is the second most abundant macroinvertebrate group in the environment. A relationship was determined between the proportion of food groups consumed in the digestive tracts of fish and the ratios of macroinvertebrates in the environment, and as a result, it was specified that the fish was selective on Diptera.