Abundance, age/length relationships, and food habits were studied for the emerald shiner Notropis atherinoides and the spottail shiner Notropis hudsonius at three sites on Lake Oahe, South Dakota, in 1990. Emerald and spottail shiners were among the most abundant species sampled in beach seine hauls between May and September. Spottail shiners were occasionally caught in small mesh gill nets. Emerald shiners were common in the upper and middle reservoir but were rare near the lower end of Lake Oahe. Spottail shiners were captured in higher numbers by night seining than by daytime seining. Age groups 0-3 were present for both species. Emerald and spottail shiners ate primarily large zooplankton and insects. Both species showed a preference for Daphnia. Shifts in feeding from zooplankton to insects occurred for both species when zooplankton abundance was low. The diets of emerald and spottail shiners showed considerable overlap on several sampling dates, indicating possible competition. Emerald and spottail shiners provide a prey base for predator fish in Lake Oahe in habitats where the primary prey, rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax is scarce or absent.
","abstract_html":"<p>Abundance, age/length relationships, and food habits were studied for the emerald shiner Notropis atherinoides and the spottail shiner Notropis hudsonius at three sites on Lake Oahe, South Dakota, in 1990. Emerald and spottail shiners were among the most abundant species sampled in beach seine hauls between May and September. Spottail shiners were occasionally caught in small mesh gill nets. Emerald shiners were common in the upper and middle reservoir but were rare near the lower end of Lake Oahe. Spottail shiners were captured in higher numbers by night seining than by daytime seining. Age groups 0-3 were present for both species. Emerald and spottail shiners ate primarily large zooplankton and insects. Both species showed a preference for Daphnia. Shifts in feeding from zooplankton to insects occurred for both species when zooplankton abundance was low. The diets of emerald and spottail shiners showed considerable overlap on several sampling dates, indicating possible competition. Emerald and spottail shiners provide a prey base for predator fish in Lake Oahe in habitats where the primary prey, rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax is scarce or absent.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sewell, Deborah C."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis - University Access Only","degree_discipline":"Wildlife and Fisheries Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Walter G. Duffy"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1993,"date_issued":"1993-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1993-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:27:51Z","subjects":["food habits","emeral shiner","spottail shiner","lake oahe","south dakota","Natural Resources and Conservation"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright © Deborah C. Sewell. All rights reserved."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/402","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Walter G. Duffy"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sewell, Deborah C."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Wildlife and Fisheries Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - University Access Only"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["food habits","emeral shiner","spottail shiner","lake oahe","south dakota","Natural Resources and Conservation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright © Deborah C. Sewell. All rights reserved."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/402"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Abundance, age/length relationships, and food habits were studied for the emerald shiner Notropis atherinoides and the spottail shiner Notropis hudsonius at three sites on Lake Oahe, South Dakota, in 1990. Emerald and spottail shiners were among the most abundant species sampled in beach seine hauls between May and September. Spottail shiners were occasionally caught in small mesh gill nets. Emerald shiners were common in the upper and middle reservoir but were rare near the lower end of Lake Oahe. Spottail shiners were captured in higher numbers by night seining than by daytime seining. Age groups 0-3 were present for both species. Emerald and spottail shiners ate primarily large zooplankton and insects. Both species showed a preference for Daphnia. Shifts in feeding from zooplankton to insects occurred for both species when zooplankton abundance was low. The diets of emerald and spottail shiners showed considerable overlap on several sampling dates, indicating possible competition. Emerald and spottail shiners provide a prey base for predator fish in Lake Oahe in habitats where the primary prey, rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax is scarce or absent.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Food Habits and Distribution of the Emerald Shiner, Notropis atherinoides Rafinesque, and the Spottail Shiner, Notropis hudsonius (Clinton), in Lake Oahe, South Dakota"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Walter G. Duffy"],"dc:creator":["Sewell, Deborah C."],"dc:description.abstract":["Abundance, age/length relationships, and food habits were studied for the emerald shiner Notropis atherinoides and the spottail shiner Notropis hudsonius at three sites on Lake Oahe, South Dakota, in 1990. Emerald and spottail shiners were among the most abundant species sampled in beach seine hauls between May and September. Spottail shiners were occasionally caught in small mesh gill nets. Emerald shiners were common in the upper and middle reservoir but were rare near the lower end of Lake Oahe. Spottail shiners were captured in higher numbers by night seining than by daytime seining. Age groups 0-3 were present for both species. Emerald and spottail shiners ate primarily large zooplankton and insects. Both species showed a preference for Daphnia. Shifts in feeding from zooplankton to insects occurred for both species when zooplankton abundance was low. The diets of emerald and spottail shiners showed considerable overlap on several sampling dates, indicating possible competition. Emerald and spottail shiners provide a prey base for predator fish in Lake Oahe in habitats where the primary prey, rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax is scarce or absent.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/402"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright © Deborah C. Sewell. All rights reserved."],"dc:subject":["food habits","emeral shiner","spottail shiner","lake oahe","south dakota","Natural Resources and Conservation"],"dc:title":["Food Habits and Distribution of the Emerald Shiner, Notropis atherinoides Rafinesque, and the Spottail Shiner, Notropis hudsonius (Clinton), in Lake Oahe, South Dakota"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Wildlife and Fisheries Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - University Access Only"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:27:51Z"}