Summary
The present study was conducted to assess growth and the feeding ecology with prey preferences of juvenile Acipenser sinensis individuals in the Yangtze Estuary from May to August, 2015. From May to August, juveniles grew from 11.65 ± 2.10 cm (10.82 ± 6.32 g) to 27.78 ± 3.36 cm (158.08 ± 60.50 g), and the length‐weight relationship (b = 3.1124) indicated isometric growth. The stomach content analysis indicated the following order of dominance of prey groups: fish, crab, amphipoda, polychaeta, shrimp and other small benthic invertebrates. The main diet taxon has not changed dramatically compared with samples in 2004. Moreover, this study confirmed that changes occurred in the prey composition, which was different with the growth of length size in the Yangtze Estuary. Therefore maintaining species richness in the Yangtze Estuary and ensuring sufficient food source is crucial to species conservation of A. sinensis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.