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Quantitative and Qualitative Observations on Fish Foods in Waddell Creek Lagoon
Author(s) -
Needham P. R.
Publication year - 1940
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1939)69[178:qaqoof]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - gammarus , fishery , crustacean , amphipoda , brackish water , trout , fish <actinopterygii> , environmental science , biology , ecology , salinity
Seasonal studies of bottom foods were made in Waddell Creek Lagoon in 1932, 1933, and 1934. Quantitative samples were taken both with an Ekman dredge and a square‐foot box. The numbers of organisms per square meter and pounds of food per acre are based on recalculations of results obtained from the unit areas sampled. The most abundant bottom populations by weight were found in March, and the least in November. Dominant animals were three crustaceans: two amphipods, Gammarus confervicolis and Corophium spinicorne, and one isopod, Exosphaeroma oregonensis. These are brackish water forms and almost completely replace typical fresh‐water forms in the inter‐tidal areas in Waddell Lagoon. Steelhead trout were found to eat large numbers of Gammarus, considerably less of Exosphaeroma, while no Corophium were found in the stomachs examined. A summary of results is given at the end of the paper.