Food Selectivity of Bigmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus, Valenciennes) in Lake Poinsett, South Dakota

Food habits of bigmouth buffalo fry, subadults, and adults were studied in lake Poinsett, South Dakota, from January to November, 1968. Fifty-six fry fed primarily (75.0% by volume) on benthic organisms. Four hundred fifty-five subadults and adults fed entirely on plankton. Daphnia pulex adults comprised 83.7 to 96.7% of the food items during periods of ice cover (January to April). Daphnia pulex adults and juveniles comprised 68.5% by volume and cyclopoid copepods 29.7%^ of the diet from April to July. Summer (July to October) samples showed ingestion of D. pulex adults and juveniles (36.9%), Anacystis sp. (22.3%), and Daphnia galeata mendotae (16.0%). Fall (October) samples showed ingestion of D. Pulex (adults and juveniles) and D. galeata mendotae which totaled 60.9%. Cyclopoid copepods contributed 23.0%. Food selectivity of subadult and adult bigmouth buffalo for eight categories of zooplankton was determined using the index described by Ivlev (1961). Selectively for D. pulex averaged +0.48 for the sampling period. Calanoid copepods were negatively selected for the entire period with a mean of -0.74. The other six categories (Diaphanasoma bryachyurum, Daphnia galeata mendotae, Daphnia pulex juveniles, Bosmina longirostris, Chydorus sphaericus, and cyclopoid copepods) appeared to be taken when available; without selection. Selectivity appeared to be dependent on the morphology of the gill rakers for all organisms except calanoid copepods which appeared to avoid ingestion.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - Open Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Wildlife Management

Year

1969

Author dc:creator

• Starostka, Victor J.

• Natural Resources and Conservation

Statement dc:rights

• <p>No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only<br /><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/</a></p>

Language dc:language

en

Repository record dc:identifier

https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/241

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:openprairie.sdstate.edu:etd-1241