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Age, Growth, Length‐Weight Relationship, Sex Ratio, and Food Habits of American Smelt, Osmerus mordax (Mitchill), from Gull Lake, Michigan
Author(s) -
Burbidge Richard G.
Publication year - 1969
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(1969)98[631:aglrsr]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - smelt , biology , crustacean , sex ratio , fishery , larva , plankton , zoology , cladocera , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology , demography , population , sociology
American smelt were collected monthly for one year from a southern Michigan lake. The length frequency distribution indicated one race of smelt was present. Greatest growth in length occurred during the second year. The general length‐weight equation was: Log W = −5.0925 + 2.9539 Log L, where W = weight in grams, and L = total length in millimeters. The correlation coefficient (r) was 0.9954. Sex ratios indicated a differential mortality between the sexes; females predominated in age‐groups I to IV, and their proportion increased with age. Feeding activity and diets varied seasonally. Smelt were selective plankton feeders preying primarily on dipteran larvae (Chaoborus, Tendipedidae) and small crustaceans (Cladocera, Copepoda, Ostracoda). Young‐of‐the‐year smelt were the only fish consumed.