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Gape limitation and piscine prey size‐selection by yellow perch in the extreme southern area of Lake Michigan, with emphasis on two exotic prey items
Author(s) -
Truemper H. A.,
Lauer T. E.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.0022-1112.2005.00588.x
Subject(s) - perch , alewife , round goby , biology , predation , neogobius , goby , fishery , zoology , ecology , fish <actinopterygii>
The trophic linkage between yellow perch Perca flavescens and two exotic prey items, alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and round goby Neogobius melanostomus , was investigated in the extreme southern area of Lake Michigan during the summer of 2002. Yellow perch ≥100 mm total length, L T ( n = 1293) exhibited size selective feeding, with 148 fish containing round gobies and 120 fish containing alewives. The mean round goby L T , preyed on by yellow perch, was 23% of the predator L T , with a range of 7 to 47%, and mean alewife L T was 32% of yellow perch L T , with a range of 18 to 46%. Although the selection of prey size by yellow perch increased proportionally with yellow perch L T , prey consumed appeared smaller than theoretically possible based on gape size.