Exploring optimal foraging by largemouth bass ( Micropterus salmoides ) from three experimental lakes

et al. 2001

Ecological Monographs

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126

162

Section: Organic Carbonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trophic Cascades, Nutrients, and Lake Productivity: Whole-Lake Experiments

Carpenter

Cole

et al. 2001

Ecological Monographs

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126

162

“…Largemouth bass have been described as specialists (Keast 1979), as generalist feeders (Winemiller and Taylor 1987) and as opportunistic/optima1 foragers , Schindler et al 1997, Hodgson and Hodgson 2000. In this study, the adult largemouth bass population exhibited a broad diet breadth ranging from zooplankton to small mammals.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…As such, we have amassed >4,000 individually-lagged largcmouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) gut samples spanning 23 years from a singlc lake (Paul Lake) in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, USA (Hodgson et al 2006, Hodgson and Hodgson 2000, Hodgson et al 1993 as a corollary data set of a larger ecosystem project (Carpenter et al 2001 andCarpenter et al 1987). The diets of individual largemouth in this study were diverse with a wide breadth of prey species including zooplankton, water mites, benthic macroinvertebrates, terrestrial insects, fishes, amphibians, and small mammals , Hodgson et al 1993, Hodgson and Hansen 2005.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Mites in the Diet of Largemouth Bass

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

2008

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Water mites (Hydracarina) are not consumed by some fish because of their distastefulness or toxicity. We obtained evidence that some individual largemouth bass (Micropterus salrnoides) specifically targeted mites as prey in a small unproductive and unexploited lake in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, USA. Bass stomachs that contained water mites tended to have high numbers of mites, with up to 780 mites in individual stomachs. Stronger evidence for foraging specialization was provided by repeated examination of stornacb contents from recaptured bass; many bass contained water mites more often than would be expected by chance (one-sample t-test [Ho=O], t = 3.54, P <0.0001). Also, there was no correlation between bass density and the percentage of bass consuming mites (r = 0.0 183) further suggesting that foraging on mites was an individual rcsponse rather than a population strategy.

“…This shift to piscivory is typically accompanied by an increase in growth which may increase individual survivorship over winter and beyond (Summerfelt 1975;Timmons et al 1980;Keast and Eadie 1985;Olson 1996;Garc ıa-Berthou 2002). Juvenile and adult largemouth bass are also cannibalistic and opportunistically consume YOY prey (filial cannibalism) when they become seasonally available (Hodgson and Kitchell 1987;Hodgson and Hodgson 2000;Purdom et al 2015). Individual YOY bass that hatch early in the spawning season, and/or experience rapid growth, can potentially obtain the size advantage necessary to practice intra-cohort cannibalism within their first year (Lawrence 1958;Olson 1996;Post 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using stable isotope and direct diet analyses, Post (2003) found that relatively few YOY in these habitats were able to transition to and sustain piscivory during their first year of growth. However, when YOY are abundant, they represent an important dietary component for both adult and juvenile largemouth bass (Post et al 1998;Hodgson and Hodgson 2000;Purdom et al 2015). Additionally, there is a strong relationship between the number of reproductively mature adults and the number of nests and YOY that ultimately hatch (Post et al 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Filial cannibalism by largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides): a three-decade natural history record from a small northern temperate lake

Dassow

Collier

Journal of Freshwater Ecology

et al. 2018

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We observed cannibalism by juvenile and adult largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) on their young-of-year (YOY) over nearly three decades (1984-2012) in a small temperate lake located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA. Largemouth bass are consistently the only fish species in the lake, necessitating the importance of studying filial cannibalism as a valuable energy source although it has potential consequences on recruitment and overall population structure. Annual whole-lake population estimates of juvenile and adult bass ranged 91-460 individuals, and these oscillations had significant differences between periods of higher and lower densities. Captured bass >150 mm in total length were individually tagged and had their stomach contents analyzed before being released. Despite significant differences in population estimates, we found no relationship with cannibalism. Additionally, we found no apparent patterns relating cannibalism to day of year, water temperature, or recruitment rates. We also found no differences in cannibalism or the size of consumed YOY between juvenile and adult bass. However, we found that recaptured individuals who consumed YOY bass on two or more occasions had significantly longer total length than individuals who consumed YOY bass one time or not at all, which provides additional evidence of dietary specialization as previously found in this population. Notwithstanding these patterns in cannibalism and the potential energetic benefits that it provides, we could not discern the effects of it on either individual growth rates or consequential changes in recruitment and overall population size. Regardless of the ever-present pressure of filial cannibalism, the population sustained recruitment across the whole study period.