Food Habits of Five Centrarchids During Filling of Beaver Reservoir, 1965-66U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, 1970 - Centrarchidae - 16 pages Stomach contents were examined from 1,886 largemouth bass, 334 spotted bass, 1,689 bluegills, 918 green sunfish, and 579 longear sunfish from the shoreline areas of Beaver Reservoir during two of the first three years of filling. Quality and quantity of food by seasons and size is related to abundance of the principal forage. Greatest volume of food were found in winter-spring months when water level rose and inudated soils for the first time; terrestrial earthworms, insects, slugs, spiders, centipedes, sowbugs, and work snakes were major foods in these seasons, particularly for fish of 101-200 mm in total length. Except for the larger bass, fish had smallest volumes in stomachs in later fall, following the decline that began when water levels stabilized in June. |
Common terms and phrases
0-3 meter depth 50 mm TL abundance Acari water mites acre algae amphipods Applegate and Mullan Aquatic insects areas of Beaver August September October Beaver Reservoir black bass Brachiopoda Cladocera Branchiura Bryozoa centrarchids from Beaver Ciliophora containing food Copepoda Crustacea Detritus eaten by largemouth Fish eggs Food category January food volume cc found in stomachs gizzard shad green and longear green sunfish Hodson Iovino July August September June July August June July Fish largemouth and spotted larger bass larger bluegill larvae less than 50 littoral areas longear sunfish Malacostraca crayfish mayflies Mean total length meter depth zone microcrustaceans Number with food October November December Ostracoda Percent of total Reservoir water September October November sowbugs species spotted bass stomach contents stomachs of centrarchids tendipedids terrestrial foods terrestrial insects Terrestrial organisms threadfin shad TL fish Total fish examined Total food volume total volume trace trace Trichoptera water levels young largemouth Young-of-the-year