Age, Growth, and Fall Diet of Channel Catfish in Cheat Lake, West Virginia

Abstract

Acidification has historically impaired Cheat Lake's fish community, but recent mitigation efforts within the Cheat River watershed have improved water quality and species richness. Presently, channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus are abundant and attain desirable sizes for anglers. We evaluated the age, growth, and fall diet of the population. We collected a sample of 155 channel catfish from Cheat Lake from 5 August to 4 December 2014, a subset of which we aged (n = 148) using lapillus otoliths. We fit four growth models (von Bertalanffy, logistic, Gompertz, and power) to length-at-age data and compared models using an information theoretic approach. We collected fall diets from 55 fish sampled from 13 October to 4 December 2014. Total lengths of individuals in the sample ranged from 154 to 721 mm and ages ranged from 2 to 19 y. We AICc-selected the von Bertalanffy growth model as the best approximating model, and the power and Gompertz models also had considerable support. Diets were numerically dominated by Diptera larvae, specifically Chironomidae and Chaoboridae, while 39% of stomachs contained terrestrial food items. This study provides baseline data for management of Cheat Lake's channel catfish population. Further, this study fills a knowledge gap in the scientific literature on channel catfish, because few previously published studies have examined the population ecology of channel catfish in the Central Appalachian region.

Enhanced inference of ecological networks by parameterizing ensembles of population dynamics models constrained with prior knowledge

“…The mean confidence scores for the per-capita growth rates of several prey (common carp, gizzard shad and emerald shiner) are 94%, 80% and 77% respectively, suggesting a high likelihood of their intrinsic population growth in the absence of other fish species. Although the mean confidence scores for almost all species interactions are low, the most probable interaction we inferred is a positive impact of emerald shiner on channel catfish with a 70% level of confidence, which agrees with empirical observations that emerald shiner support channel catfish's growth by serving as major food sources [31]. To refine these predictions, we applied the same network inference procedure to fish abundance time-series data from the Pool 26-the closest pool to the LG pool ( Fig.…”

“…Then we were wondering if their values inferred from data provide any evidence that the 9 native fish species grow and interact with each other. To answer this question, we tested the [42], CNCF-BLGL [43], CNCF-ERSN [31], CNCF-GZSD [31], FWDM-GZSD [44], WTBS-BKCP [45], WTBS-BLGL [5], WTBS-FWDM [45], WTBS-ERSN [46], WTBS-GZSD [46], WTBS-CARP [35] (the former species is a predator and the latter species is a prey) null hypothesis for each parameter of each individual ensemble member gLV model that its value is equal to zero. If the p value of this test is p, then 1 − p (what we call the "confidence score" below) informs how likely the parameter is different than 0 since its 100(1 − p)% confidence interval just touches 0.…”

Population Characteristics of Yellow Perch in a Central Appalachia Hydropower Reservoir

“…Studies also support that prey quality and abundance contribute to Yellow Perch growth, where robust benthic invertebrate communities promote faster growth than situations where fish rely on zooplankton (Lott et al 1996;Tyus and Knight 2001). Further, growth studies on other species (Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus and Walleye) have also observed fast growth (Hilling et al 2016;D.M. Smith, unpublished data), indicating additional unknown factors may facilitate rapid growth of fishes in Cheat Lake.…”

Evaluation of a Re-established Walleye Population within a Hydropower Reservoir Recovering from Acidification

“…For modeling of Walleye growth in Cheat Lake we fit three different growth models to length at age data and used an information theoretic approach to select the best fitting model (Katsanevakis 2006;Katsanevakis and Maravelias 2008;Taylor 2013;Hilling et al 2016). Given sexual dimorphism in growth of Walleyes, we analyzed growth separately for males and females .…”

“…Otoliths were prepared for aging by cracking them in half perpendicular to their longitudinal axis . We sanded otoliths using 400 or 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper and polished them with 1200 and/or 2500 grit sandpaper to improve visibility of annuli Hilling et al 2016). Otoliths were then placed in a basin of black modeling clay filled with water with the fractured side up to improve clarity (Taylor 2013).…”