Feeding of Cyphocharax voga (Hensel, 1869) (Characiformes, Curimatidae) in Corrientes Stream, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

The Cyphocharax voga species is distributed from the hydrographic basin of the Paraguay River and lower Paraná up to the coastal hydrographic systems of South America. Corrientes stream sets the boundary between Turuçu and Pelotas counties and has not been a focus of detailed studies so far. The aim of this paper was to study the C. voga feeding process for a better understanding of its diet at the site. Thirty-two specimens were collected between December and March 2005, packed in ice-covered boxes and taken to the laboratory. The diet was analyzed by methods of occurrence frequency and relative frequency; for both males and females, total, average and standard deviation were registered; student's t-test and the q-square χ2 test were applied for ingested items. A total of 18 feeding categories were identified, including a 100% presence of filamentary algae and sediment. The prevalence of these items alongside with microorganisms associated with the feeding process makes this an iliophagous species in this environment. Meaningful differences in feeding between male and female specimens were not found through q-square χ2 test.