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Diet of shovelnose sturgeon and pallid sturgeon in the free‐flowing Mississippi River
Author(s) -
Hoover J. J.,
George S. G.,
Killgore K. J.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of applied ichthyology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.392
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1439-0426
pISSN - 0175-8659
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0426.2007.00893.x
Subject(s) - sturgeon , biology , lake sturgeon , fishery , predation , invertebrate , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , acipenser
Summary Gut contents of shovelnose and pallid sturgeon from the lower and middle Mississippi River were obtained by colonic flushing, a safe and easily implemented alternative to gastric lavage. Diets of both species were dominated numerically by immature Trichoptera, Ephemeroptera, and Diptera. Primary prey, based on volume, for shovelnose sturgeon were Trichoptera, and for pallid sturgeon were various fishes. Geographic and seasonal nuances in diet were observed for both species, but the general dichotomy of shovelnose sturgeon as browser on invertebrates and pallid sturgeon as predator on fishes did not change. Data indicate that both species require hard substrates for feeding. Data demonstrate that colonic flushing is an effective technique for describing diet and inferring ecological and behavioral information about sturgeon.