Branching complexity and morphological characteristics of coarse woody structure as lacustrine fish habitat

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (9) ◽  
pp. 2110-2123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G Newbrey ◽  
Michael A Bozek ◽  
Martin J Jennings ◽  
James E Cook

The objective of this study was to quantify the physical characteristics of coarse woody structure (CWS) as fish habitat in a north temperate lake. Sixteen species of fish were observed in submerged CWS habitat. Branching complexity, distance above the bole, area below the bole, distance to other CWS, and water depth around CWS were significantly related to abundance of schooling cyprinids (Cyprinidae), rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and walleye (Sander vitreus). Branching complexity was the most common characteristic of CWS related to richness, diversity, and total adult abundance of fish taxa, but was not correlated with the total lengths of fish found in submerged trees. Branching-complexity values ranged from 1 (simple) to 500 (moderately complex) in the littoral zone; for comparison, a living riparian conifer had a branching-complexity value of over 1000. Most CWS in the littoral zone was composed of simple trees without branching, but fish tended to inhabit CWS with branching-complexity values greater than 45. This study shows the importance of CWS with fine branching as littoral-zone fish habitat.

1969 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shibru Tedla ◽  
C. H. Fernando

The gills of 118 yellow perch, Perca flavescens; 18 pumpkinseed, Lepomis gibbosus; 14 rock bass, Ambloplites rupestris; and 15 smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieui, were examined for Ergasilus spp. Ergasilus caeruleus was recovered for pumpkinseed and E. confusus from yellow perch. Rock bass and smallmouth bass were infested with E. centrarchidarum and one immature specimen of this species was recovered from a pumpkinseed. The host preference of each parasite species is discussed. A relationship between the egg number of copepods with more than one host and the degree of host preference is suggested.


2008 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan M. Roberts ◽  
Charles F. Rabeni ◽  
John S. Stanovick ◽  
David A. Hamilton

The reintroduction of River Otters (Lontra canadensis) between 1982 and 1992 resulted in widespread occurrence of the species throughout the Missouri Ozarks. This study examined otter diets from the vicinity of two Ozark streams in relation to seasonal and spatial trends. Otter scats (N = 4750) were collected and analyzed from the Osage Fork River and Big Piney River during the summer and winter seasons of 2001 and 2002. During the winter (January-March), fish occurred in 86% of the samples. During the summer (June–August), occurrence of fish dropped to approximately 15% for both rivers. Seven families of fish were identified in the diets, with Centrarchidae being most common regardless of river or season. Within the Centrarchidae, the genus Lepomis (mostly Longear Sunfish, Lepomis megalotis) was most common, with Micropterus (mostly Smallmouth Bass, Micropterus dolomieu) and Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris) also well represented. The mean age of Ambloplites consumed (mean = 3.3 years) was consistently older than that of either Micropterus (mean = 2.54 years) or Lepomis (mean = 2.78 years). Crayfish were recovered from a mean of 85.2% of scats in the winter and 99% in the summer. Smaller fish and crayfish were more common from the upper reaches of the streams while larger fish were prevalent in the lower reaches.


1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (10) ◽  
pp. 2212-2222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena N. Measures

In Guelph Lake, a man-made reservoir in Ontario, Canada, prevalence of larval Eustrongylides tubifex in pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus), rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris), and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) was 12.9% and mean intensity ranged from 1 to 1.8. Larvae were encapsulated on the mesentery of fish. Pumpkinseed and yellow perch were the important fish hosts in Guelph Lake as most larvae in these fish were alive. In contrast, 40% of larvae in rock bass were dead and calcified. Third- and fourth-stage larvae from naturally infected fish are described. Larvae in the three species of fish elicited a granulomatous inflammatory reaction. Attempts to transfer third-stage larvae from experimentally infected oligochaetes and third-stage larvae from naturally infected fish to laboratory-reared pumpkinseed were unsuccessful. Fourth-stage larvae from naturally infected fish were transferred successfully to pumpkinseed. Eutropic lakes such as Guelph Lake are particularly suitable enzootic areas because of the abundant populations of tubificid intermediate hosts and the presence of fish hosts such as pumpkinseed and perch. The advanced stage and development of larvae (to the fourth stage) in fish likely represents an adaptation for a parasite that occurs in a migratory host such as Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser), which frequent Guelph Lake for only about 1 month in spring and fall.


1969 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shibru Tedla ◽  
C. H. Fernando

Analysis of incidence and intensity of infestation of yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill), by the glochidia of Lampsilis radiata from weekly samples from May to September and single samples in October and November indicate that the two subspecies, Lampsilis radiata radiata and Lampsilis radiata siliquoidea, shed their glochidia in late spring and throughout the summer in the Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario. Smaller fish are more heavily infested with these glochidia than larger ones. About 50% of the preparasitic glochidia of Lampsilis radiata siliquoidea survived for 12, 70, and 120 h at 20°, 12°, and 10 °C respectively. The parasitic period of the glochidia of L. r. siliquoidea on yellow perch under experimental conditions was 50 days at 15 °C from the May infestation. Yellow perch carried the glochidia for a longer period from an August infestation. All the glochidia recovered 50 days after infestation, both from May and August infestations, had undergone metamorphosis. There was no difference in the degrees of infestation of the different species of fish used in our experiments. Pumpkinseed, Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus); rock bass, Ambloplites rupestris (Rafinesque); and white perch, Roccus americanus (Gmelin) lost their infestations in a week. Presumably no metamorphosis took place under these conditions. Black crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus (LeSueur); largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede), smallmouth bass, M. dolomieui Lacepede: and yellow perch carried the infestation till they were killed 20 days later. There was no relationship between the numbers of glochidia (Lampsilis radiata) and copepods, (Ergasilus confusus Bere) on naturally infested yellow perch, nor on rock bass, smallmouth bass, and pumpkinseed which harbored Ergasilus spp. naturally and which were infested with the glochidia of L. r. siliquoidea experimentally.


1983 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 1820-1828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas C. Collins ◽  
Harold H. Harvey ◽  
Ann Jane Tierney ◽  
David W. Dunham

In 19 central Ontario lakes the catches of crayfish in baited minnow traps usually were well predicted by numbers of crayfish counted in timed underwater searches. Exceptions were lakes with relatively high predator densities, where trap catches were far less than expected from search counts. In a stepwise linear regression, an index of the density of rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris) in the lakes was significantly negatively correlated with trapability. Smallmouth and largemouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui and M. salmoides), despite their reputation for consuming crayfish, were not significantly correlated with variations in trapability across lakes, but they reduced trapability and altered crayfish behavior in one lake. Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) density was positively correlated with trapability. The predatory basses appear to reduce trapability of crayfish more than they affect crayfish density; high crayfish populations were found in some lakes with dense bass populations. Predator-mediated changes in trapability seem consistent across the crayfish species Orconectes propinquus, O. virilis, and Cambarus robustus. In aquaria without predators, O. propinquus from a lake with high bass density were more nocturnal, more shelter-bound, and less active than those from a lake without bass. Behavior of females differed more between these two lakes than that of males, which are less vulnerable to predation than females. These behavior differences persisted for at least 3 wk in the laboratory, indicating that interspecific comparisons of behavior could be misleading unless the populations studied had similar histories of predation risk. The observed interlake variation in trapability suggests that catches in passive traps may be poor indices of crayfish density.


1970 ◽  
Vol 30 (1-8) ◽  
pp. 69-165
Author(s):  
Homer Buck ◽  
Charles F. Thoits

This report is based on several years of intensive studies of the production and related population dynamics of six kinds of warmwater fishes maintained as single species in 1-acre ponds. Species involved included the largemouth bass, Micropteriis salmoides (Lacepede); smallmouth bass, M. dolomieiii Lacepede; bluegill, Lepomis macrochiriis Rafinesque; yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill); brown bullhead, Ictahiriis uebulosus (LeSueur); and the white crappie, Pomoxis annularis Rafinesque. Most production data published for these species have originated primarily from studies involving complex, multispecies populations. The principal aims of this investigation were to 1 ) increase our knowledge of the carrying capacities of ponds for warmwater fishes, 2) consider the relationship of carrying capacity to standing crop and to rate of production, and 3) measure the influence of controlled population increases and decreases on fish production.


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.


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