Feeding of Rainbow Trout (Salmo gairdneri) in Relation to Abundance of Drifting Invertebrates in a Mountain Stream
- 1 December 1970
- journal article
- Published by Canadian Science Publishing in Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
- Vol. 27 (12) , 2356-2361
- https://doi.org/10.1139/f70-264
Abstract
Hatchery-reared rainbow trout, deprived of food for 48 or 96 hr and released in a mountain stream for 5- or 10-hr periods, consumed aerial invertebrates in numbers loosely associated with their seasonal and hourly abundance in the drift. The same was generally true for benthic insects, except that on several days feeding was much poorer relative to drift from 3:00 AM to 8:00 AM than at other times of day.In September and October tests, aerial forms were abundant during daylight, and benthic forms abundant at night, enabling trout to feed 24 hr a day. Day and night feeding in September were roughly equal in importance, but in October more food was taken during the day. Aerial invertebrates were so rare in December that benthic insects were the most important prey day and night. However, even benthics were not numerous enough to provide good feeding.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- A Study on the Exploitation of Invertebrate Drift by Brown Trout (Salmo trutta L.) in a Dartmoor StreamJournal of Applied Ecology, 1968