Food deprived largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) are inactive and stressed, but do not show changes in lure inspections

Capture Is Predicted by Behavior and Size, Not Metabolism, in Muskellunge

“…Reasons for the trends in capture during the current study are not known, but we propose three possible explanations. First, prior work has indicated that food deprivation can lead to more lure inspections (Largemouth Bass: Keiling and Suski 2019; Keiling et al. 2020) and increased activity (Qingbo Spinibarbus sinensis : Wang et al.…”

“…2007; White et al. 2013; Näslund and Johnsson 2016; Keiling and Suski 2019). During the lure phase, all of the same aforementioned behaviors were quantified, with the addition of freeze time (total time spent motionless after introduction of the lure) and a count of the number of lure inspections (Keiling and Suski 2019; Keiling et al.…”

“…No fish visually inspected or attacked the lure (i.e., fish stopped moving and deliberately oriented toward the lure for more than 1 s; Réale et al. 2007; Keiling and Suski 2019). Finally, during the 10‐min mirror phase of the behavioral assay, the behavioral software was again used to quantify all of the behaviors described above in addition to the total number of mirror “displays” performed by each fish.…”

“…After 10 min of exploration, a hookless fishing lure (7.5-cm, soft-plastic bait, pearl-white color, in the shape of a minnow) was dropped into the center of the arena. The lure served as a novel object presented in a way that mimicked a fishing experience, and the response of the fish to a novel object presented in this way provides a measure of boldness, as the fish would take a risk to leave the refuge and interact near the novel object, with bolder individuals spending more time outside of the refuge (often resulting in proximity to the novel object) or transitioning between zones more (Réale et al 2007;White et al 2013;Näslund and Johnsson 2016;Keiling and Suski 2019). During the lure phase, all of the same aforementioned behaviors were quantified, with the addition of freeze time (total time spent motionless after introduction of the lure) and a count of the number of lure inspections (Keiling and Suski 2019;Keiling et al 2020).…”

“…Angling trials.-After the second behavioral trial, Muskellunge were haphazardly stocked into one of two 0.04-ha ponds (2 m deep × 24 m long × 15 m wide) on October 2, 2021 (n = 34 fish/pond), along with approximately 500 Fathead Minnow for forage (Keiling and Suski 2019). Prior to stocking, both ponds were drained, vegetation was manually removed, and pond beds were permitted to air dry for 6 d. Following this 6-d period, ponds were refilled with municipal water and given a 10-d period to dechlorinate (chlorine levels in the ponds fell to under 1 mg/L prior to stocking).…”