Predation by Tiger Muskellunge on Bluegill: Effects of Predator Experience, Vegetation, and Prey Density
- 1 September 1984
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 113 (5) , 588-594
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1984)113<588:pbtmob>2.0.co;2
Abstract
Many pellet-reared tiger muskellunge (F1 hybrid of female muskellunge E. masquinongy and male northern pike E. lucius) do not survive stocking in reservoirs dominated by bluegill L. macrochirus prey. Poor survival may occur because few hybrids capture bluegills. In a previous study done in hatchery ponds, only 10% of naive hybrids (those never before exposed to live prey) captured bluegills during 15 days. In similar ponds, effects of predator experience (using hybrids previously exposed to bluegill prey), vegetative cover and bluegill density on the number of hybrids capturing prey were tested. Few experienced or naive hybrids captured bluegills at low prey density, regardless of the presence or absence of vegetation. When bluegill density was increased from 1 to 5 prey/m2 in ponds or to 40/m2 in aquaria, many hybrids captured bluegills. Most hybrids will probably not fare well when stocked in lakes where only bluegill forage is present.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- The Functional Response of Invertebrate Predators to Prey DensityMemoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 1966