Premium
Changes in the Composition of Somatic and Gonadal Tissues of Yellow Perch following White Sucker Removal
Author(s) -
Hayes Daniel B.,
Taylor William W.
Publication year - 1994
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(1994)123<0204:citcos>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - perch , catostomus , development of the gonads , gonad , biology , sucker , zoology , composition (language) , moulting , fishery , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , anatomy , larva , linguistics , philosophy
We determined the response of the proximate composition of yellow perch Perca flavescens to removal of a food competitor, the white sucker Catostomus commersoni, in a whole‐lake manipulation of Douglas Lake, Michigan. Following removal of 80% of the adult white sucker population, the composition of somatic tissue of adult yellow perch collected from mid‐April to mid‐July improved, with water content decreasing and fat and caloric contents increasing. In a nearby reference lake, yellow perch proximate composition showed either no change or became less favorable during the same time period. From mid‐July to mid‐October, somatic tissue composition showed no improvement in Douglas Lake; this is consistent with a previous study showing that feeding rate late in the summer was not significantly different after sucker removal. Gonadal development had a strong influence on the composition of somatic tissues. Immediately following spawning, fat and energy reserves were depleted and the water content of somatic tissues was high. During the summer (May through August), yellow perch stored fat and energy in somatic tissues, and their body water contents decreased in both lakes. Both sexes of yellow perch began gonad development during September and showed concurrent declines in fat and energy content in somatic tissues. Male yellow perch completed gonad development by mid‐October, whereas gonadal development in females continued until spawning in late April. Male and female yellow perch showed similar rates of decline in fat and energy content during the winter, even though females were developing gonadal tissue during this time and males were not. Because female yellow perch required additional energy for gonadal development during the winter but showed a rate of somatic energy depletion similar to that of males, it appears that female yellow perch either rely on feeding or use energy‐saving behaviors during the winter to supply the additional energy required for gonadal development. The improvement we observed in yellow perch body composition following white sucker removal indicates that fish respond to reductions in competition with qualitative changes in proximate composition as well as with quantitative changes in growth.