Abstract

The intertidal zone at several sites of the northern Chilean coast affected by copper mine tailings, shows a lower diversity of sessile species than the non-affected ones. Girella laevifrons is a fish highly represented in rocky intertidal shores of these sites. In this study we analized and compared, the dietary composition of this species and its relation with the intertidal sessile assemblages of contaminated and non-contaminated sites. The results show significant differences in the dietary composition of the fishes occurring in contaminated and non-contaminated sites. Within the contaminated sites, the differences in body sizes and in the body concentrations of copper could be related directly to the food availability and indirectly to the interactions with other intertidal species.