Feeding Ecology of Brook Silverside, Golden Shiner, and Subyearling Pumpkinseed in a Lake Ontario Embayment

• Published in: Journal of fish and wildlife management 2017-06, Vol.8 (1), p.240-248
• Main Authors: Johnson, James H, Chalupnicki, Marc A, Abbett, Ross, Diaz, Avriel R, Nack, Christopher C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Food and nutrition; Pumpkinseed (Fish)
• ISSN: 1944-687X; 1944-687X
• DOI: 10.3996/092016-JFWM-075

Fish feeding ecology has been shown to vary over a 24-h period in terms of the prey consumed and feeding intensity. Consequently, in order to best determine the interspecific feeding associations within a fish community, examination of the diet at multiple times over a 24-h period is often necessary. We examined the diel feeding ecology of three fish species that were numerically dominant in a Lake Ontario embayment during summer. The diet of each of the three species, young-of-year Pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus, Golden Shiner Notemigonus crysoleucas, and Brook Silverside Labidesthes sicculus, was distinct with no significant overlap in diet composition occurring within any of the 4-h time intervals. The diet composition of each species suggested that Brook Silverside were feeding at the surface (terrestrial invertebrates and aquatic surface dwelling hemipterans), whereas young-of-year Pumpkinseed (amphipods) and Golden Shiner (tipulids) were feeding on different benthic prey. Differences in feeding periodicity were most pronounced for young-of-year Pumpkinseed. Our findings provide valuable insights on interspecific feeding associations among these three fish species during summer in a Lake Ontario embayment.