Effects of light level and growth history on attack distances of visually foraging juvenile salmon in experimental tanks

The effects of light level, developmental pathway, and previous growth history on the foraging attack distances of juvenile Atlantic salmon Salmo salar were examined in circular rearing tanks. Former manipulation of growth rates had no significant influence on distances moved to intercept food items despite the fact that it caused substantial differences in post‐treatment growth. Attack distances of fish that were entering a state of overwinter dormancy (lower modal group; LMG) were shorter than those of actively feeding (and growing) fish (upper modal group; UMG). These differences were explained generally by differences in body size between the two groups, suggesting that actual effort per attack was unassociated with growth requirements. Significant differences between growing and non‐growing fish in attack distances could contribute to the variation in growth rates through their effect on feeding rates, but were unlikely to have affected energetic costs. This may be due to the fact that attack distances were consistently short throughout the study period as is also evident from the pattern of change between night and daytime. Whereas in the first experiment (daylight v . twilight) fish moved further to reach food during the day, in the second (daylight v . overcast night) nocturnal attack distances matched (LMG fish) or exceeded (UMG fish) diurnal attack distances. Thus diurnal attack distances were probably minimized in the second experiment. These results are interpreted within a framework of overwintering strategies.