| Summary: | We evaluated the importance of the freshwater grass shrimp Palaemonetes
antennarius as trophic source for the lacustrine fish of the Lake Bracciano
(Central Italy) analyzing 6120 stomach contents of 10 species. Shrimp was recorded for all
size classes of the investigated species with a variation in frequency and abundance
depending on seasons. P. antennarius was occasionally preyed by
cyprinids, and systematically by small individuals of carnivorous fish. Our findings
acquire more importance if we take the shrimps ecological niche into account, as it is
potentially acting as detritivorous/generalist and predator of benthic invertebrates as
well. This feeding behavior makes P. antennarius an important network
ring, being a taxon that ought to receive the same attention recommended for other
freshwater decapods as proposed for Austropotamobius pallipes and
Potamon fluviatile.
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