I wonder if a fish (Random sp.) feeds mostly on plankton but also consumes cyanobacteria and some insects (Chironomidae, Simuliidae) at much lower rates, can we classify them as omnivore?
Dr. Tolga Şahin
In a loose and expansive sense, Omnivorous. If the said random species happens to feed on aquatic larval stages of the Families mentioned that normally reside as being part of the periphyton which includes cyanobacteria and all sorts of benthic algal, fungal species growing/accumulating on a substrate, then I guess it can be accurately called Aufwuchs grazers in addition to being planktivorous, or to be more specific facultative algivores.
Regards,
Dr. Abhishek Mukherjee
That situation you raise is very frequent. In my opinion, the easiest way to classify is from the abundance of the trophic resource. In addition, another element to consider is if the animal ingests the animals that appear in the diet accidentally when consuming the algae. I recommend you review the following manuscript:
Article Feeding Diversity in Fishes: Trophic Classification of Fish
It is not easy to fully answer this question.
In the natural environment, almost all herbivores in fact also eat - voluntarily or not - animal material, in the form of eggs and small animals (slugs, snails and, among other insects, aphids), as well as fungi, even significant amounts of soil.
A species is said to be omnivorous - from the Latin omni (all) and vorare (to eat, to swallow) - when its digestive system allows it to absorb food of vegetable and animal origin. This characteristic allows omnivorous species to adopt an “opportunistic” diet, which varies according to the availability of food.
Regards
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