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Quantifying the trophic basis of production for freshwater metazoa at broad spatial scales is key to understanding ecosystem function and has been a research priority for decades. However, previous lotic food web studies have been limited by geographic coverage or methodological constraints. We used compound-specific stable carbon isotope analysis of amino acids (AAs) to estimate basal resource contributions to fish consumers in streams spanning grassland, montane and semi-arid ecoregions of the temperate steppe biome on two continents. Across a range of stream sizes and light regimes, we found consistent trophic importance of aquatic resources. Essential AAs of heterotrophic microbial origin generally provided secondary support for fishes, while terrestrial carbon did not seem to provide significant, direct support. These findings provide strong evidence for the dominant contribution of carbon to higher-order consumers by aquatic autochthonous resources (primarily) and heterotrophic microbial communities (secondarily) in temperate steppe streams.

Stream fishes are restricted to specific environments with appropriate habitats for feeding and reproduction. Interactions between streams and surrounding landscapes influence the availability and type of fish habitat, nutrient concentrations, suspended solids, and substrate composition. Valley width and gradient are geomorphological variables that influence the frequency and intensity that a stream interacts with the surrounding landscape. For example, in constrained valleys, canyon walls are steeply sloped and valleys are narrow, limiting the movement of water into riparian zones. Wide valleys have long, flat floodplains that are inundated with high discharge. We tested for differences in fish assemblages with geomorphology variation among stream sites. We selected rivers in similar forested and endorheic ecoregion types of the United States and Mongolia. Sites where we collected were defined as geomorphologically unique river segments (i.e., functional process zones; FPZs) using an automated ArcGIS‐based tool. This tool extracts geomorphic variables at the valley and catchment scales and uses them to cluster stream segments based on their similarity. We collected a representative fish sample from replicates of FPZs. Then, we used constrained ordinations to determine whether river geomorphology could predict fish assemblage variation. Our constrained ordination approach using geomorphology to predict fish assemblages resulted in significance using fish taxonomy and traits in several watersheds. The watersheds where constrained ordinations were not successful were next analyzed with unconstrained ordinations to examine patterns among fish taxonomy and traits with geomorphology variables. Common geomorphology variables as predictors for taxonomic fish assemblages were river gradient, valley width, and valley slope. Significant geomorphology predictors of functional traits were valley width‐to‐floor width ratio, elevation, gradient, and channel sinuosity. These results provide evidence that fish assemblages respond similarly and strongly to geomorphic variables on two continents., This study demonstrates the utility of spatial analysis in predicting functional process zones and fish assemblage variation in endorheic basins and forest steppe ecoregions of two continents.

Resource polymorphism is a widespread phenomenon in post‐glacial fishes where multiple morphotypes of a species occur sympatrically and exhibit distinct resource use. Availability of open niches and high levels of within and among species competition are thought to drive differences in morphology and may provide insights into early stages of speciation. Hovsgol grayling (Thymallus nigrescens) are endemic to Lake Hovsgol, a lake colonised by fish following the Pleistocene, and are threatened with habitat loss due to climate change and illegal harvest. Previous analysis of Hovsgol grayling diet inferred through C and N stable isotopes suggested the presence of littoral and pelagic foraging groups. We hypothesised that morphology of the two foraging groups would reflect predictions of functional morphology, indicating the presence of resource polymorphism. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated evidence from C and N stable isotopes, stomach contents, fish ages, capture location and morphology. Two foraging groups of Hovsgol grayling were identified through stomach content and C and N stable isotope analysis. Individuals with greater zooplankton consumption were more frequently captured in the pelagic zone, exhibited higher gill raker counts, larger orbit (eye) sizes, longer paired fins, narrower head width, larger maxilla and smaller size at age than the group with greater reliance on benthic invertebrate prey. These differences were generally consistent with those described in other fish species exhibiting littoral–pelagic resource polymorphism. Our study provides the first example of littoral–pelagic resource polymorphism in the salmonid subfamily Thymallinae and highlights the potential influence of competition on fish evolution.

Metacercariae of trematodes from the genus Diplostomum are major helminth pathogens of freshwater fish, infecting the eye or the brain. The taxonomy of the genus Diplostomum is complicated, and has recently been based mainly on the molecular markers. In this study, we report the results of the morphological and molecular genetic analysis of diplostomid metacercaria from the brain of the minnow Phoxinus phoxinus from three populations in Fennoscandia (Northern Europe) and one population in Mongolia (East Asia). We obtained the data on the polymorphism of the partial mitochondrial cox1 gene and ribosomal ITS1–5.8S–ITS2 region of these parasites. РСА-based morphological analysis revealed that the parasites in the Asian and the European groups of Diplostomum sp. were distinctly different. Metacercariae from the brain of Mongolian minnows were much larger than those from the brain of Fennoscandian minnows but had much fewer excretory granules. Considering that the two study regions were separated by a distance of about 4500 km, we also tested the genetic homogeneity of their host, the minnow, using the mitochondrial cytb gene. It was shown that Diplostomum-infected minnows from Mongolia and Fennoscandia represented two previously unknown separate phylogenetic lineages of the genus Phoxinus. Both molecular and morphological analysis demonstrated that the parasites from Fennoscandia belonged the species Diplostomum phoxini, while the parasites from Mongolia belonged to a separate species, Diplostomum sp. MТ.Each of the two studied Diplostomum spp. was associated with a specific, and previously unknown, genealogical lineage of its second intermediate host, P. phoxinus.

The Hovsgol grayling, endemic to Lake Hovsgol, Mongolia, is considered endangered, but published descriptions of the species abundance, distribution, or behavior do not exist. We used hydroacoustics, vertical and horizontal gillnetting, zooplankton sampling, and stomach content analysis to characterize abundance, distribution, prey avail- ability, and diet of Hovsgol grayling. Pelagic Hovsgol grayling densities averaged 34.2±6.8 individuals·ha �1 (biomass of 4.4±0.9 kg·ha �1 ) and were concentrated along the western and northern areas of the lake. Gillnet catch rates were 7.5 times higher for littoral sets than pelagic sets. Pelagic vertical distributions of zooplankton and Hovsgol grayling were concentrated above 50 m, with grayling exhibiting diel vertical migrations from 15 m at night to 30 m during the day. Smaller Hovsgol grayling fed primarily on zooplankton while larger individuals fed more heavily on benthic prey in littoral and pelagic areas. The results from this study may be used to guide conservation management and monitoring strategies for Hovsgol grayling, and provide a conservation reference point as human population growth and environmental change continues in the Lake Hovsgol catchment.