Intra‐ and interspecific dominance hierarchies and variation in foraging tactics of two species of stream‐dwelling chars

Abstract Aggressive interactions, foraging behavior, habitat use and diet were studied in sympatric populations of white‐sported char, Salvelinus leucomaenis , and Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma , in a Japanese mountain stream. Underwater observations on individuals of both species revealed two distinct behavioral regimes: aggressive drift foragers and non‐aggressive benthos foragers. Aggressive drift foragers defended partial territories around focal points from which they made forays to capture invertebrates drifting in the water column. Non‐aggressive benthos foragers cruised around and beneath cobble in large foraging ranges that overlapped each other. Intra‐ and interspecific, size‐dependent dominance hierarchies were recognized among aggressive drift foragers, whereas non‐aggressive benthos foragers showed no such relationships. Terrestrial invertebrates were the most abundant prey in the diets of drift foragers, whereas a very small proportion of the diet of benthos foragers was made up of these taxa. Benthos foragers showed more complex diet composition than drift foragers. These results suggest that non‐aggressive benthos foragers may avoid not only interference but also exploitative competition by using alternative foraging tactics. The proportion of drift foragers to benthos foragers among white‐spotted char was more than 35 times that among Dolly Varden. The significant difference in the proportion of each species using the two types of foraging strategy results in interspecific food segregation in sympatric populations.