Effect of light intensity, prey density, and ontogeny on foraging success and prey selection of larval yellow perch (Perca flavescens)

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 588-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin T. Martin ◽  
David H. Wahl ◽  
Sergiusz J. Czesny
2010 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 1729-1741 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. G. Wellington ◽  
C. M. Mayer ◽  
J. M. Bossenbroek ◽  
N. A. Stroh

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey C. Jolley ◽  
David W. Willis ◽  
Richard S. Holland

Abstract Food availability may regulate fish recruitment, both directly and indirectly. The availability of zooplankton, especially to newly hatched larvae, is thought to be crucial to their early growth and survival. We examined stomach contents of larval bluegill Lepomis macrochirus and yellow perch Perca flavescens in Pelican Lake and Cameron Lake, Nebraska, in 2004 and 2005. We also determined zooplankton availability and calculated prey selection using Chesson's α. In addition, we investigated potential match–mismatch regulation of recruitment from 2004 to 2008. Bluegill positively selected copepod nauplii and Bosmina spp., and yellow perch often selected copepods. Abundant zooplankton populations were available for consumption. Matches of both larval bluegill and yellow perch abundance to zooplankton abundance were detected in all years; exact matches were common. Mismatches in predator and prey production were not observed. Predation by age-0 yellow perch on age-0 bluegill was not observed, even though yellow perch hatched 2 mo prior to bluegill. Given that zooplankton were abundant and well-timed to larval fish relative abundance over the time span of this study, the match–mismatch hypothesis alone may not fully account for observed recruitment variability in these populations. Environmental conditions may also affect recruitment and warrant further investigation.


1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 549-555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward L. Mills ◽  
Daniel V. Widzowski ◽  
Suzanne R. Jones

We tested how diet conditioning influences prey species selection by age-0 yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in laboratory experiments. We conditioned yellow perch to diets of different ratios of Daphnia pulex and Diaptomus sicilis and then offered them an experimental 1:1 test mixture of each prey. The influence of conditioning on prey selection was found not to be random, and prey were consumed neither in proportion to the 1:1 test mix nor to the ratio of prey in the conditioning diet. Young yellow perch switched to novel prey and did not specialize on the most frequently encountered prey in conditioning diets. However, when yellow perch were conditioned and tested on the 1:1 Diaptomus to Daphnia mix, these fish selected Diaptomus until they reached 35–40 mm total length when they switched to the larger bodied Daphnia. We hypothesize that young yellow perch may switch to novel prey because nutritional advantages associated with diet breadth may outweigh the advantage of feeding on familiar prey.


1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 743-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina M. Wahl ◽  
Edward L. Mills ◽  
William N. McFarland ◽  
Joseph S. DeGisi

Age-0 yellow perch, Perca flavescens, shift from pelagic to demersal waters of Oneida Lake, New York, between late June to mid-July, when they reach standard lengths of 24–31 mm. The timing of this habitat shift coincides with the size range over which yellow perch achieve a degree of visual resolution that nearly equals that of adult yellow perch, from 174 min of arc in newly hatched larvae to 9–12 min in adults. This visual improvement is reflected in the yellow perch's diet, which consists of an increasingly wider range of prey sizes and types. If twin cones are counted as functionally separate photoreceptors, there is a significant improvement of the calculated visual acuity in larval fish with lenses < 1 mm in diameter but not in older fish with larger lenses. During its rapid growth phase the most optimistic calculation of visual acuity in a young yellow perch is insufficient to explain the feeding success necessary at this time. We suggest therefore that young yellow perch spend more time in search of prey than their adult counterparts.


1972 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 1761-1764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Wong ◽  
F. J. Ward

Prior to mid-July, Daphnia pulicaria in yellow perch (Perca flavescens) fry stomachs were smaller than those in plankton collections but after this date mean lengths of D. pulicaria in stomachs and collections were similar indicating an initial selection for small D. pulicaria by the fish. The relation between D. pulicaria body depth and perch mouth gape width indicated that perch fry less than 18 mm long, a length attained in mid-July, could not readily ingest D. pulicaria with body depths greater than 0.7 mm (1.3 mm long). The heterogenic relation between growth in mouth and body size enabled perch fry in West Blue Lake to quickly utilize, as an energy source, the abundant D. pulicaria population.


1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 882-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Confer ◽  
Edward L. Mills ◽  
Linda O'Bryan

Prey selection by young yellow perch (Perca flavescens) (22–62 mm TL) was measured during 11 experiments over two summers, 1982–83. For each experiment fish were offered different densities of the same mixture of zooplankton from Oneida Lake, NY. As density of prey increased, several measures of selectivity for Daphnia either remained unchanged or declined, while all measures of selectivity for calanoids and cyclopoids increased. At all densities small to mid-sized Daphnia were preferred to large Daphnia. Reanalyses of other studies suggests this may be the general pattern for young planktivores, despite the contrary predictions of several models of prey selection. For young planktivores, differences in the nutritional quality of zooplankton prey, including resultant growth efficiency and speed of digestion, can account for these results.


1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 2028-2033 ◽  
Author(s):  
John L. Confer ◽  
Gary J. Lake

Growth of age 0 + yellow perch (Perca flavescens) fed different zooplankton diets was examined in the laboratory during June and July 1983. Fish were fed an equal mass of diet types that varied with respect to prey species, mean length of the same prey species, and species mixture. Fish consumed all prey within 4 h of feeding. In four trials the ranking of diet type by fish growth was always Diaptomus sicilis > Oneida Lake tow sample > Daphnia spp. Differences in fish growth frequently varied by 50–300%. These differences suggest that nutritional processes, such as digestion or assimilation, will influence the optimal prey selection for, at least, small zooplanktivorous fish.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.L. Johansen ◽  
O. Akanyeti ◽  
J.C. Liao

AbstractTo forage in fast, turbulent flow environments where prey are abundant, predatory fishes must deal with the high associated costs of locomotion. Prevailing theory suggests that many species exploit hydrodynamic refuges to minimize the cost of locomotion while foraging. Here we challenge this theory based on direct oxygen consumption measurements of drift-feeding trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) foraging in the freestream and from behind a flow refuge at velocities up to 100 cm s-1. We demonstrate that refuging is not energetically beneficial when foraging in fast flows due to a high attack cost and low prey capture success associated with leaving a station-holding refuge to intercept prey. By integrating optimum foraging theory with empirical data from respirometry and video imaging, we develop a mathematical model to predict when drift-feeding fishes should exploit or avoid refuges based on prey density, size and flow velocity. Our foraging and refuging model provides new mechanistic insights into the locomotor costs, habitat use, and prey selection of fishes foraging in current-swept habitats.


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