Trophic ecology of Girella laevifrons (Pisces : Kyphosidae) in rocky intertidal zones of northern Chile affected an non-affected by copper mine tailings

The intertidal zone at several sites of the northern Chilean coast affected by copper mine tailings, shows a lower diversity of sessile species than t he non-affected ones. Girella laevifrons is a fish highly represented in ro cky intertidal shores of these sites. In this study we analized and compare d, the dietary composition of this species and its relation with the intert idal sessile assemblages of contaminated and non-contaminated sites. The re sults show significant differences in the dietary composition of the fishes occurring in contaminated and non-contaminated sites. Within the contamina ted 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.