Effect of Competition Between Two Freshwater Fishes on Prey Consumption and Abundance

1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 1363-1372 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Mark Hanson ◽  
William C. Leggett
Keyword(s):  
Interspecific Competition ◽  
Intraspecific Competition ◽  
Littoral Zone ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
Fish Biomass ◽  
Gut Fullness ◽  
Total Fish ◽  
Food Consumed

The effect of inter- and intraspecific competition on the type and quantity of food consumed by fish, and on the abundance of macroinvertebrate prey, was examined by manipulating densities of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) stocked into littoral zone enclosures at levels approximating 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 times the measured total fish biomass on the littoral zone. In intraspecific competition experiments, neither species showed a change in the type of prey eaten (principally macroinvertebrates). The amount of food eaten by yellow perch reared at high (26 g/m2) densities was significantly depressed relative to that of perch reared at low (6.5 g/m2) and natural (13 g/m2) densities. There were no significant differences in the amount of food eaten by pumpkinseed at the three fish densities. The gut fullness of pumpkinseed reared at high densities, however, was biased to a significant but unknown degree by the inclusion of a nonfood item, macrophyte fragments, in the estimates. No other fish consumed macrophytes. In interspecific competition experiments, the gut fullness of yellow perch and pumpkinseed reared together (combined density 13 g/m2) did not differ from that of fish reared alone at low or natural densities. The diet (principally macroinvertebrates) of the superior competitor, pumpkinseed, did not change relative to that of pumpkinseed reared alone. The inferior competitor, yellow perch, exhibited a significant change in diet. Microcrustaceans (an energetically inferior food) comprised 30–53% of the diet (by weight) of yellow perch reared with pumpkinseed compared with < 1% of the diet of perch reared alone. Total macroinvertebrate biomass and abundance were unaffected by differences in fish biomass in the enclosures.

Experimental and Field Evidence for Inter- and Intraspecific Competition in Two Freshwater Fishes

1985 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Mark Hanson ◽  
William C. Leggett
Keyword(s):  
Interspecific Competition ◽  
Weight Change ◽  
Intraspecific Competition ◽  
Littoral Zone ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Behavioural Interactions ◽  
Natural Density ◽  
Growth Changes

Direct evidence for intra- and interspecific competition in fishes was obtained by manipulating populations of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) stocked into littoral zone enclosures. Stocking densities were above, below, and equal to measured littoral zone fish biomass. There were no significant differences in mean percent weight change at given densities among repeated experiments (each of 14-d duration). In experiments testing for intraspecific competition, all fish reared at low density gained weight, all fish reared at high density lost weight, and mean weight change at natural density did not differ from 0.0. In experiments testing for interspecific competition, growth of pumpkinseed did not differ from growth of pumpkinseed reared alone at equivalent densities whereas growth of yellow perch was depressed relative to growth of yellow perch reared alone at equivalent densities. These growth changes did not result from behavioural interactions. We conclude that (a) inter- and intraspecific competition for food is significant at natural fish densities and (b) pumpkinseed are superior to perch when competing for food. A marked reduction in yellow perch growth in Lake Memphremagog between 1972 and 1983, coincident with a major increase in pumpkinseed abundance, is consistent with these findings and our interpretations.

Littoral Fish Communities in Southern Quebec Lakes: Relationships with Limnological and Prey Resource Variables

1994 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 1128-1138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clay L. Pierce ◽  
Joseph B. Rasmussen ◽  
William C. Leggett
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
Fish Biomass ◽  
Littoral Fish ◽  
Total Fish ◽  
Invertebrate Biomass

We assessed species richness, biomass, and community type of littoral fish in 10 southern Quebec lakes in relation to several limnological and prey resource variables. Lake, yearly, and seasonal variation in biomass was evaluated by quantitative, replicated seining. Species richness averaged 12.8 in our lakes, and 24 species were collected overall. Total littoral fish biomass averaged 13.5 g∙m−2 overall and varied significantly among lakes (range 6.1–26.9 g∙m−2) and between early and late summer. Yellow perch (Perca flavescens), golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas), and pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) occurred in all lakes and were the most abundant species overall, averaging 57% of the total fish biomass. Principal component ordination of littoral fish communities showed little evidence for aggregation of community types. Species richness was positively correlated with lake surface area (r2 = 0.62), as has been shown in other studies. Total fish biomass was positively correlated with biomass of chironomids (r2 = 0.57), which constituted 24% of the littoral invertebrate biomass in our lakes and are important prey of many fish species. We found no significant correlation between total fish biomass and total invertebrate biomass or between biomass of any of the dominant fish species and limnological or prey variables.

Epizootiology, pathology, and description of Eustrongylides tubifex (Nematoda: Dioctophymatoidea) in fish

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (10) ◽  
pp. 2212-2222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena N. Measures
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Infected Fish ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
Fourth Stage ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Third Stage ◽  
Rock Bass ◽  
Ambloplites Rupestris ◽  
Fish Hosts

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.

Observations on the glochidia of Lampsilis radiata (Gmelin) infesting yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill) in the Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario

1969 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shibru Tedla ◽  
C. H. Fernando
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
White Perch ◽  
Micropterus Salmoides ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Smallmouth Bass ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Pomoxis Nigromaculatus ◽  
Rock Bass

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.

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
Keyword(s):  
Littoral Zone ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Lepomis Macrochirus ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Smallmouth Bass ◽  
Micropterus Dolomieu ◽  
Rock Bass ◽  
Ambloplites Rupestris

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.

Relative Selectivities of Miller High-Speed Samplers and Light Traps for Collecting Ichthyoplankton

1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 993-998 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Gregory ◽  
P. M. Powles
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Similarity Index ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
Light Traps ◽  
Active Sampling ◽  
Pumpkinseed Sunfish ◽  
High Uniformity ◽  
Percent Similarity

Comparative studies on the relative selectivities of Miller high-speed samplers and light traps in Chemung Lake, Ontario, were made over 29 "site-nights" from May 13 to June 25, 1982. Yellow perch (Perca flavescens), Iowa darter (Etheostoma exile), and pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus) constituted 97.2% of the 4376 specimens collected. A percent similarity index indicated a high uniformity in the size and species composition of the catch (~70% for much of the study); similarity was least on the earliest sample date (May 13, 3.5%). Smaller darters (<6.0 mm total length) were excluded from the Miller sampler catch. We suggest that extrusion of prolarval and early postlarval darters through the tow nets is responsible for low percent similarity index values in early May. We propose that investigators consider a mixture of passive and active sampling techniques to alleviate existing selectivity biases.

Feeding Interrelations Between Age-Groups of Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) and Comparisons with Bluegill (L. macrochirus)

1978 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen Keast
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
Interspecific Competition ◽  
Intraspecific Competition ◽  
Spatial Ecology ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
Young Fish ◽  
Chironomid Larvae ◽  
Class Separation

Analysis of the stomachs of 2435 pumpkinseeds (Lepomis gibbosus) showed that the diet was made up largely of chironomid larvae, molluscs, isopods, with lesser quantities of amphipods, Trichoptera larvae, and Ephemeroptera nymphs. Cladocera were only important to the very young fish. Age-class separation, in terms of taxonomic and prey-size categories, was minor, although the diet changed somewhat with age. Quantification of the diet overlaps between year-classes (by Levins index) revealed overlap levels that were moderate to high, varying seasonally between 0.5 and 1.1. They were greatest in July when the diversity of available prey organisms fell and October when several size-classes simultaneously consumed isopods, then at a peak in biomass. The feeding and spatial ecology of the pumpkinseed was compared with that of a closely related congener, the bluegill (L. macrochirus). The two species and their equivalent year-classes separated out partially on diet (the bluegill consuming a greater proportion of Cladocera and Tnchoptera larvae; the pumpkinseed, molluscs and isopods), and partly on habitat and the height at which they foraged in the water column. Ecological overlap values between equivalent year-classes of the two species were moderate, 0.52–0.57 (Levins scale), on the basis of diet alone as well as when the habitat component was incorporated. It is suggested, however, that other differences serve to reduce these levels. Key words: feeding, year-class diets, sunfish, intraspecific competition, interspecific competition, prey invertebrates, Centrarchidae

Factors Related to the Biomass and Production of Fish Communities in Small, Oligotrophic Lakes Vulnerable to Acidification

1991 ◽  
Vol 48 (12) ◽  
pp. 2523-2532 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. M. Kelso ◽  
M. G. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Fish Species ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
Micropterus Salmoides ◽  
Acid Neutralizing Capacity ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
Fish Biomass ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Community Biomass ◽  
Neutralizing Capacity

We estimated biomass and production of the fish community in 19 small (<50 ha) lakes from four watersheds in central Ontario. Lake pH ranged from 4.8 to 7.1. We found 19 fish species in these lakes; yellow perch (Perca flavescens), pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus), white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) were the most common. On average, there were 4.5 species per lake. Neither fish community biomass nor production was significantly different among the communities identified by cluster analysis, and the number offish species was not lower at lower pH. More than 75% of each lake's total biomass was confined to less than three fish species. Whole-lake fish biomass was related to the total number of species in the lakes and their average age. Fish community production was related to fish biomass, averge fish size, and acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) with an almost equal influence provided by each factor. At lower ANC and pH, fish were usually smaller in weight and often had lower population growth rates. In these lakes where the influence of lake size and trophic status was minimized, fish community biomass and production were only secondarily related to lake pH or ANC.

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