Food selection and feeding relationships of yellow perch 'Perca flavescens' (mitchell), white bass 'Morone chrysops' (rafinesque), freshwater drum 'Aplodinotus grunniens' (rafinesque), and goldfish 'Carassius auratus' (linneaus) in western Lake Erie. Interim report

Technical Report · Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1975

OSTI ID:7336249

Kenaga, D E; Cole, R A

The study was undertaken as part of an investigation of the impact of once through cooling at a large power plant in western Lake Erie and is an attempt to assess the relationship among fish based on foods consumed. Potential food organisms and stomach contents of yellow perch, white bass, freshwater drum and goldfish were sampled and compared over a two year period. On the basis of differences in food size alone, young of the year fish did not appear to be in competition but as they became larger, all but goldfish consumed the same mean size foods. Within a fish species, mean prey size varied little in fish older than age class zero. Goldfish differed markedly by lacking the prey size selectivity demonstrated by the other fish species. Some ramifications of food size and prey selectivity in relation to trophic dynamics, feeding efficiency, composition and distribution of fish species, and the use of cooling water by large power plants and their possible impact upon prey sizes are discussed. (GRA)

• Research Organization: Michigan State Univ., East Lansing (USA). Inst. of Water Research; Detroit Edison Co., MI (USA); Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7336249
• Report Number(s): PB-251208; MSU-IWR-TR-75-0032.5
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Sponsored in part by Detroit Edison Co., Mich. and Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
FISHES
FEEDING
LAKE ERIE
THERMAL POLLUTION
ONCE-THROUGH COOLING SYSTEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
BEHAVIOR
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
FOOD
POWER PLANTS
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
COOLING SYSTEMS
GREAT LAKES
LAKES
POLLUTION
SURFACE WATERS
VERTEBRATES
520400* - Environment
Aquatic- Thermal Effluents Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
200200 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Waste Management