Competition and coexistance between Glossiphonia complanata and Helobdella stagnalis (Glossiphoniidae: Hirudinoidea)
F J Wrona1, Ronald W Davies1, L Linton1
1Department of Biology, University of Calgary, T2N 1N4, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Abstract:
The prey utilization of Glossiphonia complanata and Helobdella stagnalis from Bruce Lake, Alberta, Canada was examined quantitatively using serological techniques. While considerable prey range overlap occurred between the species, niche overlap was low during the winter, peaked in March and declined through the summer. Temporal differences in feeding and intraspecific weight class differences in prey utilization were found in both species but more distinctly in G. complanata. It is suggested that co-existance of G. complanata and H. stagnalis is based on adjustments of weight class food resource partitioning on a temporal basis.
Related Concept Videos
Competition
Speciation Rates
Symbiosis
Frequency-dependent Selection
Hybrid Zones
Types of Selection


