Food Habits and Feeding Chronology of the Blackbanded Darter, Percina nigrofasciata (Agassiz), in Halawakee Creek, Alabama
- 1 January 1973
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 102 (1) , 48-55
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1973)102<48:fhafco>2.0.co;2
Abstract
In Halawakee Creek, Percina nigrofasciata showed two distinct feeding peaks; one in the morning and a higher one in late afternoon. Immature forms of Diptera, Ephemeroptera, and Trichoptera were dominant in the diet over the 24‐hour period. Although these organisms were most abundant in drift during the night, most were eaten during daylight. Daytime feeding peaks suggests that P. nigrofasciata are visual feeders. Daily ration varied from 2.6 to 4.9% of the body weight. Optimum temperature range for maximal feeding in natural habitat was 17–23 C. Feeding rate was low or high, above or below this temperature range. The fish were highly insectivorous. Numerically and on the basis of percent frequency of occurrence dipteran larvae were the most important item in the diet throughout the year. Ephemeropteran nymphs constituted the bulk of the food by weight. Trichopteran larvae ranked third in importance. Other items which were eaten occasionally included copepods, cladocerans, amphipods, isopods, coleopteran larvae, and plecopteran nymphs. An almost complete absence of terrestrial food items and detritus (mud, sand, and gravel) and dominance of drift organisms in the diet suggests subsurface feeding.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: