Premium
Winter Feeding Habits of Bluegills, Lepomis Macrochirus Rafinesque, and Yellow Perch, Perca Flavescens (Mitchill), in Cedar Lake, Washtenaw County, Michigan
Author(s) -
Moffett James W.,
Hunt Burton P.
Publication year - 1945
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(1943)73[231:wfhobl]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - perch , lepomis macrochirus , fishery , biology , fish <actinopterygii>
During the winter of 1940–41, 1,128 bluegills and 211 yellow perch were collected from the rather productive Cedar Lake, Washtenaw County, Michigan. Analyses were made of the contents of the stomachs of these fish. Bluegills consumed very little food during the winter. The average stomach contained 133 organisms of which 124 were plankton. The average volumetric content of these stomachs was 0.036 cubic centimeters. Foods consumed were predominantly aquatic insects (mayfly nymphs) in early winter; changed to plankton (Cladocera) in midwinter; and tended again toward aquatic insects as spring approached. There was some correlation noted between prolonged periods of warm weather and an increased rate of food consumption. Yellow perch ate much more food than did bluegills during the winter. The average volume per stomach was 0.26 cubic centimeters. Young bluegills constituted the great bulk of the perch diet. They formed over 60 per cent of the total volume throughout the winter. Ostracoda were eaten in great numbers in midwinter. Winter predation by perch on young bluegills certainly must be an important factor in regulating the bluegill population.