Changes in Prey Rank and Preference by Young Planktivores for Short-Term and Long-Term Ingestion Periods

Abstract

Feeding by young planktivorous fishes (yellow perch, Perca flavescens, rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, and lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush) was examined. Prey rank was determined by offering a swarm of one prey type and observing ingestion rates. During the initial feeding burst, larger prey generally ranked higher. During long-term feeding the largest prey, large Daphnia magna, generally declined in rank while the smallest prey, Diaptomus sicilis, increased to the highest or second highest rank. Prey preference was measured with fishes feeding in a swarm of mixed prey. Initially small rainbow trout and yellow perch selected for large Daphnia then switched to Diaptomus. For small rainbow trout this switch in prey preference paralleled the change in prey rank. For yellow perch, large Daphnia and Diaptomus provided essentially the same long-term ingestion rates. The nearly exclusive selection for Diaptomus during long-term feeding did not agree with prey rank based on caloric ingestion rates. Previous work has shown that yellow perch have a high growth efficiency on a diet of Diaptomus. Selection for Diaptomus suggests that fish can rank prey by nutritional quality as well as caloric ingestion rates.