Invasive fish keeps native feeding strategy despite high niche overlap with a congener species

Weakfish Cynoscion regalis (Bloch and Schneider, 1801) is one of the most recent invasive fish in the Iberian Peninsula (Europe). Weakfish has established in the Sado estuary (Portugal) since the early 2010s, and fishers and anglers have expressed concern about its impacts on native prize fish. However, almost a decade later, there is no information on the ecology of weakfish in the non-native area. So, we aimed to assess weakfish feeding strategy and feeding plasticity through stomach content analysis to evaluate if these factors may contribute to its invasiveness, as well as to determine the ecological overlap between weakfish and three native prize fish - European bass, white seabream, and particularly meagre (since they are taxonomically closer), through carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. Our results demonstrate that Sado's weakfish has a generalist feeding strategy and preys the same functional groups it targets in the native area, therefore feeding strategy may weigh on invasiveness but not feeding plasticity. Weakfish, meagre, and European bass were in the same trophic level and weakfish exhibited higher trophic overlap with meagre, suggesting that weakfish could directly impact meagre if food and habitat become limiting. This study is the first assessment about weakfish ecology in the non-native area and our findings are an excellent starting point to understand this invasion. It can also be useful for management programmes that promote weakfish consumption to minimize its impacts, alleviate fishing pressure on native species, and raise public awareness. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.