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Evaluation of a Gastric Lavage Method on Juvenile Pallid Sturgeon
Author(s) -
Wanner Greg A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/m05-090.1
Subject(s) - sturgeon , gastric lavage , biology , predation , juvenile , fishery , zoology , endangered species , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology , medicine , habitat
Because of the endangered status and limited knowledge of the early life history of the pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus , I tested the safety and efficiency of a nonlethal method for investigating the food habits of age‐2 juvenile pallid sturgeon. Pallid sturgeon were fed a mixture of live prey items, including earthworms Lumbricus terrestris , red worms Alloloborpha calliginosa , meal worms Tenebrio molitor , and wax worms Galleria mellonella . Gastric lavage was performed on two test groups; a third group did not undergo gastric lavage but was held as a control ( N = 30 fish per group). Over a 60‐d test period, no mortality was observed. No significant differences were detected in relative condition and growth in length between the two lavaged groups and the control group over the 60‐d test period. The efficiency of the gastric lavage procedure was tested on 29 age‐2 juveniles, and food items were recovered from 100% of the fish with food in their stomachs. The average recovery rate for all food items combined was 74.9% by number and 73.7% by weight. Gastric lavage was determined to be a safe method for recovering food items from juvenile pallid sturgeon. More research is needed to test the efficiency of the method in recovering natural prey in the field.