Predator-Prey Relations and Competition for Food Between Age-0 Lake Trout and Slimy Sculpins in the Apostle Island Region of Lake Superior

Heritage strain and diet of wild young of year and yearling lake trout in the main basin of Lake Huron

“…Age-0 lake trout in the Gull Island Shoal complex of Lake Superior and those from Lake Huron had similar diets. Mysis occurred in about 75% of Lake Superior fish followed by calanoid copepods (16%), chironomid pupae (14%), and planktonic crustaceans (11%; Hudson et al 1995). Similar to our observations, Bythotrephes occurred in low numbers in Lake Superior lake trout diets with 3.5% frequency of occurrence.…”

“…Anderson and Smith (1971) found Mysis to be the most important prey for lake trout less than 250 mm sampled monthly from April to September in the Apostle Islands region of Lake Superior. Hudson et al (1995) summarized age-0 lake trout feeding behavior in Lake Superior, surmising that fish typically reach sizes of 50 mm by fall and begin to feed on small fish that can account for about 30% of their diets, with the remainder being benthic invertebrates. No fish remains were observed in lake trout diets analyzed in our study, although our sample sizes from each time period were small.…”

Predation by fallfish (Semotilus corporalis) on Pacific salmon eggs in the Salmon River, New York

“…Besides salmonids, sculpins (Cottus spp) have also been observed to feed on Pacific salmon eggs (Greeley 1932;Reed 1967;Stauffer 1971;Foote and Brown 1998;Dittman et al, 1998). Sculpins have also been reported to be a predator on lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) eggs (Hudson et al, 1995, Biga 1996.…”

Influence of water temperature and streambed stability on the abundance and distribution of slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus)

“…The challenge to ecologists, therefore, is to examine naturally occurring populations and determine which set of habitat variables is influencing the density and distribution of their species of study. Rather than focusing on their distribution in relation to environmental variables, most previous studies of slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) fall into two camps: those of a primarily qualitative nature in which the presence/absence of fish and habitat characteristics were noted, and those investigating the impact of sculpin on benthic invertebrate communities and their predation on salmonid eggs and juvenile fish (Krohn 1968;Moyle 1977;Hudson et al 1995;Owens and Weber 1995). From these studies, however, we have learned that sculpin are highly sedentary benthic fish exhibiting limited mobility and possessing small home ranges (McCleave 1964;Morgan and Ringler 1992;Gray et al 2004).…”