Foraging behavior, morphology, and life history variation determine the ontogeny of piscivory in two closely related predators

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (9) ◽  
pp. 2010-2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian DS Graeb ◽  
Tracy Galarowicz ◽  
David H Wahl ◽  
John M Dettmers ◽  
Mathew J Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Feeding Behavior ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Prey Selection ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
Generalist Predators ◽  
Life History Variation ◽  
Bioenergetic Model ◽  
Fish Prey ◽  
Lower Growth

The ontogeny of piscivory is an important process during the early life history of many fishes, and why ontogenetic patterns of closely related species vary is unclear. We experimentally evaluated the importance of several factors that can determine the switch to piscivory in two predators with different dietary ontogenies: walleye (Sander vitreus), a specialist piscivore, and yellow perch (Perca flavescens), a dietary generalist. We conducted growth and prey selection experiments across several sizes of both predators using fish, zooplankton, and benthic invertebrates as prey. Walleye exhibited piscivorous feeding behavior throughout all size classes (20–80 mm), whereas yellow perch were generalist predators, showing negative to neutral selection for fish prey and lower growth than walleye when feeding on fish. Walleye foraged more efficiently than yellow perch on all prey types, in part because gape widths of walleye increased more quickly with size. Bioenergetic model simulations showed that walleye grew slower than yellow perch when the proportion of fish was low in diets, but walleye growth was faster than yellow perch on a diet dominated by fish. Feeding behavior, morphology, and life history patterns likely work in combination, allowing walleye to switch to piscivory earlier than yellow perch.

Factors affecting the early life history of yellow perch,Perca flavescens

1985 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melbourne C. Whiteside ◽  
C. Michael Swindoll ◽  
William L. Doolittle
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
History Of

Optimal life histories and food web position: linkages among somatic growth, reproductive investment, and mortality

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 738-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
B J Shuter ◽  
N P Lester ◽  
J LaRose ◽  
C F Purchase ◽  
K Vascotto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Food Web ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Life History Variation ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Top Predators ◽  
Optimal Life Histories

Life history variation among 60 Ontario populations of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), walleye (Sander vitreus), cisco (Coregonus artedii), and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) is presented and interpreted using a biphasic model of individual growth that specifically accounts for the significant shift in energy allocation that accompanies sexual maturity. We show that the constraints imposed on life history variation by the character of the biphasic growth model are such that optimal life histories will exhibit associations among growth parameters, reproductive investment, and mortality that are largely consistent with associations evident in both our data set and earlier empirical studies; the von Bertalanffy growth parameter k varies with reproductive investment, and both k and investment vary with adult mortality. Our analysis suggests that within a food web, life history parameters will shift in a predictable fashion with the decreases in mortality expected as one moves from primary consumers up toward top predators. This expectation is supported by the differences in life history parameters that we observe between the two top predators in our data set (lake trout and walleye) and the two mid-trophic level consumers (cisco and yellow perch).

Descriptions of eggs, larvae, and early juveniles of the Iowa darter, Etheostoma exile (Girard), from Lac Heney, Quebec

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 1264-1269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Simon ◽  
Daniel J. Faber
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Aquatic Macrophytes ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
Tree Roots ◽  
Early Juvenile ◽  
Juvenile Stages

Descriptive morphology of egg, larval, and early juvenile stages of the Iowa darter, Etheostoma exile (Girard), from Lac Heney, Quebec, were examined using morphological, meristic, morphometric, and pigment characteristics. The Iowa darter is a phyto-lithophil spawning on aquatic macrophytes and exposed tree roots. Ova are weakly indented and range in diameter from 0.9 to 1.3 mm, with larvae presumably hatching at ca. 3.6 mmTL. The Iowa darter has 16–18 preanal myomeres (typically 17), and from 20–23 postanal myomeres. Pigmentation is superficially most similar to the yellow perch. A synopsis of the known aspects of the early life history is presented and distinctive morphological characteristics of syntopic percids are compared.

Factors Influencing Year-Class Strength of Percids: A Summary and a Model of Temperature Effects

1977 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 1900-1909 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Koonce ◽  
T. B. Bagenal ◽  
R. F. Carline ◽  
K. E. F. Hokanson ◽  
M. Nagięć
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Temperature Regime ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Class Strength

Factors regulating year-class strength in the percid genera Stizostedion and Perca are summarized. Some index of water temperature regime correlates significantly with year-class strength of percids in many water bodies. Moderate synchrony of year-class strength is noted for walleye (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum) in several lakes in North America. A probablistic model is proposed to explain the basis of temperature dependence of year-class strength in percids, but tests of the model using Lake Erie data indicated that observed correlations between temperature and year-class strength of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and walleye may not be the result of direct effects of the temperature regime on survivorship of early life-history phases. Key words: Percidae, year-class strength, temperature, probalistic model, early life history

Early Life History Variation among Hatchery- and Wild-Origin Lake Trout Reared in a Hatchery Environment

2010 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenni L. McDermid ◽  
William N. Sloan ◽  
Chris C. Wilson ◽  
Brian J. Shuter
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
Life History Variation

A Bioenergetic Exploration of Piscivory and Planktivory During the early Life History of Two Species of Freshwater Fishes.

1996 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 113 ◽  
Author(s):  
RG Werner ◽  
BV Jonckheere ◽  
MD Clapsadl ◽  
JM Farrell
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Standing Crop ◽  
Lepomis Macrochirus ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Stomach Content Analysis ◽  
Trophic Relationships ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Bioenergetic Model

In order to explore the trophic relationships of two different feeding strategies during the nursery period a bioenergetic model is applied to the early life history stages of a piscivore, the muskellunge (Esox masquinongy, Esocidae: Salmoniformes) and a planktivore, the bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus, Centrarchidae:Perciformes). The model uses a balanced energy equation to predict consumption based on observed growth and calculated losses to metabolism, excretion and egestion. Estimates are temperature- and weight-dependent and are calculated on a daily basis over the duration of the nursery period. Ambient temperatures and the diet composition as determined from stomach content analysis were used in the model. Comparisons of consumption and metabolic rates between a piscivore and a planktivore suggest that the planktivore has a much higher metabolic rate resulting in greater weight-specific consumption and a larger maximum ration (g g-1 day-1 day-1) than the piscivore. The consumption of prey organisms in relation to prey standing crop by the planktivore ranged up to 2.5% of the standing crop per day, whereas in the piscivore population it approached 18% of standing crop per day; this suggests that consumption by the planktivore on the zooplankton population in eutrophic Crane Lake would likely have less of an effect on the prey population than that of the piscivore in bays of the St Lawrence River.

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