Night Feeding of Brown and Rainbow Trout in an Experimental Stream Channel

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Abstract
This study sought to determine if stream-living brown and rainbow trout (Salmo trutta and Salmo gairdneri) will feed on drifting terrestrial insects at night. Groups of fish were confined in segments of a rocky-substrate mountain stream, and marked ants were introduced to the current from observation towers equipped with feeding tubes. After the last introductions of an experiment, the fish were removed and their stomachs were examined for marked ants.Although fish of both species fed at night, they appeared to take a smaller percentage of the ants provided than did day-feeding groups studied for comparison. Fish feeding under bright moonlight and starlight captured introduced ants at about the same rates. The results suggest that trout in the type of stream studied feed or are in feeding readiness at nearly all hours of the day or night, at least in the summer months.

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