Abstract
The aim of the present study was to analyse and compare the feeding behaviour of large perch (>25 cm total length) in two lakes of different state and corresponding differences in food availability. Investigations were conducted in the Bautzen Reservoir, Germany, (biomanipulated, macrophyte cover <1%) and in Lake Ring, Denmark (non-biomanipulated, macrophyte cover ca. 20%). Fish were sampled regularly using trawl nets and gill nets. We focused our study on seasonal diet patterns. Further, we investigated size-related feeding and predation on both the juvenile fish and invertebrate communities. The availability of Chironominae was high in both lakes (e.g. ca. 1500 ind. m−2 in Lake Ring), but age-0 fish abundance was most probably higher in Bautzen Reservoir (6.4 individuals m−3 in the beginning of June 1998). Invertebrates and age-0 fish were the main food components of large perch of both populations. Mean lengths of prey fish were consistently smaller than those in situ. Large perch in Bautzen Reservoir started earlier to feed on age-0 fish, which was not related to prey fish sizes. Predation on the age-0 fish community was distinctly higher in Bautzen Reservoir than in Lake Ring. Generally, invertebrates represented the most important food of large perch in Lake Ring, whereas the by far dominant food resource of large perch in Bautzen Reservoir was the age-0 fish stock. In conclusion, it can be stated that the prey fish availability was an important factor in determining the feeding behaviour of large perch.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Benndorf, J., 1995. Possibilities and limits for controlling eutrophication by biomanipulation. Int. Rev. gesamt. Hydrobiol. 80: 519–534.
Benndorf, J., H. Schultz, A. Benndorf, R. Unger, E. Penz, H. Kneschke, K. Kossatz, R. Dumke, U. Hornig, R. Kruspe & S. Reichel, 1988. Food-web manipulation by enhancement of piscivorous fish stocks: long-term effects in the hypertrophic Bautzen reservoir. Limnologica 19: 97–110.
Benndorf, J., J. H. E. Koop, H. Schultz, A. Wagner, T. Deppe, R. Herbst, S. Hülsmann, N. Kamjunke & H. Voigt, 1998. Biomanipulation zur Sanierung eutrophierter Seen-Erweiterung der Anwendungsmöglichkeiten. Schlußbericht zum Forschungsvorhaben FKZ 0339549, Bonn: 65 pp.
Berg, S., E. Jeppesen, M. Søndergaard & E. Mortensen, 1994. Environmental effects of introducing whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus L.) in lake Ring. Hydrobiologia 275/276: 71–79.
Claessen D., C. van Oss, A. M. de Roos & L. Persson, 2002. The impact of size-dependent predation on population dynamics and individual life history. Ecology 83: 1660–1675.
Craig, J. F., 1978. A study of the food and feeding of perch, Perca fluviatilis L., in Windermere. Freshwat. Biol. 8: 59–68.
Craig, J. F., 1987. The Biology of Perch and Related Fish,Croom Helm, Beckenham, U.K.: 333 pp.
Dörner, H., 2002. The role of perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) in the food web of the long-term biomanipulated Bautzen Reservoir. Shaker Verlag, Aachen: 96 pp.
Dörner, H. & J. Benndorf, 2003. Piscivory by large eels on youngof-the-year fishes: its potential as a biomanipulation tool. J. Fish Biol. 62: 491–494.
Dörner, H., A. Wagner & J. Benndorf, 1999. Predation by piscivorous fish on age-0 fish: spatial and temporal variability in a biomanipulated lake (Bautzen reservoir, Germany). Hydrobiologia 408/409: 39–46.
Dörner, H., H. Schultz, T. Mehner & J. Benndorf, 2001. Interaction between prey availability and feeding behaviour of age-1 and age-2 perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) in a biomanipulated lake (Bautzen Reservoir, Germany). Limnologica 31: 11–16.
Fickling, N. J. & R. L. G. Lee, 1981. Further aids to the reconstruction of digested prey lengths. Fish. Manag. 12: 107–110.
Gillet C., J. P. Dubois & S. Bonnet, 1995. Influence of temperature and size of females on the timing of spawning of perch, Perca fluviatilis, in lake Geneva from 1984 to 1993. Environ. Biol. Fishes 42: 355–363.
Hartmann, J. & W. Nümann, 1977. Percids of Lake Constance, a lake undergoing eutrophication. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 34: 1670–1677.
Hartman, K. J. & F. J. Margraf, 1992. Effects of prey and predator abundances on prey consumption and growth of walleyes in Western Lake Erie. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 121: 245–260.
Hülsmann, S., 2001. Population dynamics of Daphnia galeata in the biomanipulated Bautzen Reservoir: life history strategies against food deficiency and predation. Ph.D thesis, Dresden University of Technology, Shaker Verlag, Aachen: 129 pp.
Hülsmann, S. & H. Voigt, 2002. Life history of Daphnia galeata in a hypertrophic reservoir and consequences of non-consumptive mortality for the inititation of a midsummer decline. Freshwat. Biol. 47: 2313–2324.
Jacobsen, J., S. Berg, M. Broberg, N. Jepsen & C. Skov, 2002. Activity and food choice of piscivorous perch (Perca fluviatilis) in a eutrophic shallow lake, investigated by radio-telemetry. Freshwat. Biol. 47: 2370–2379.
Knight, R. L., R. F. Carline & F. J. Margraf, 1984. Piscivory by walleyes and yellow perch in western Lake Erie. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 113: 677–693.
Lappalainen, J., H. Dörner & K. Wysujack, 2003. Reproduction biology of pikeperch (Sander lucioperca (L.)) – a review. Ecol. Freshwat. Fish (in press).
Lundvall, D., R. Svanback, L. Persson & P. Bystrom, 1999. Size-dependent predation in piscivores: interactions between predator foraging and prey avoidance abilities. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 56: 1285–1292.
Mehner, T., H. Schultz & R. Herbst, 1995. Interaction of zooplankton dynamics and diet of 0+ perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) in the top-down manipulated Bautzen Reservoir (Saxony, Germany) during summer. Limnologica 25: 1–9.
Mehner, T., H. Schultz, M.-G. Werner, F. Wieland, R. Herbst & J. Benndorf, 1996. Do 0+ percids couple the trophic cascade between fish and zooplankton in the top-down manipulated Bautzen reservoir (Germany)? Publicaciones Especiales del Instituto Espanol de Oceanografia 21: 243–251.
Mehner, T., F. Mattukat, D. Bauer, H. Voigt & J. Benndorf, 1998. Influence of diet shifts in underyearling fish on phosphorus recycling in a hypertrophic biomanipulated reservoir. Freshwat. Biol. 40: 759–769.
Persson, L. & L. A. Greenberg, 1990. Juvenile competitive bottlenecks: the perch (Perca fluviatilis) – roach (Rutilus rutilus) interaction. Ecology 71: 44–56.
Persson, L., S. Diehl, L. Johansson, G. Andersson & S. F. Hamrin, 1991. Shifts in fish communities along the productivity gradient of temperature lakes – patterns and the impact of size-structured interactions. J. Fish Biol. 38: 281–293.
Post, J. R. & A. B. Prankevicius, 1987. Size selective mortality in juvenile yellow perch (Perca flavescens): evidence from otolith microstructure. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 44: 1840–1847.
Thorpe, J., 1977. Synopsis of biological data on the perch. FAO Fish. Syn. 113: 136 pp.
Werner, E. E., 1974. The fish size, prey size, handling time relation in several sunfishes and some implications. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 31: 1531–1536.
Wiederholm, T. & L. Erikson, 1977. Effect of alcohol-preservation on the weight of some benthic invertebrates. Zoon 5: 29–31.
Wise, M. H., 1980. The use of fish vertebrae in scats for estimating prey size of otters and mink. J. Zool. Lond. 192: 25–31.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dörner, H., Berg, S., Jacobsen, L. et al. The feeding behaviour of large perch Perca fluviatilis (L.) in relation to food availability: a comparative study. Hydrobiologia 506, 427–434 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HYDR.0000008608.22869.99
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HYDR.0000008608.22869.99