Food Habits of the Southern Channel Catfish (Ictalurus Lacustris Punctatus)
FOOD IIABITS OF TIlE SOUTHERN CHANNEL CATFIStt (ICTALURUS LACUSTRIS PUNCTATUS) IN TItE DES MOINES R,IVER, 'IOWA t I•r:EVE M. BAILEY 2 Muse•,l, of Zoology, U•ffversity of Michigan,, Ann Arbor M•chigan AND H•u•¾ M. H•umso•, J•. Iowa State Co•servcttion(•ommissio,•, Des Moit•cs, Iowa .•BSTRACT The stmnaeh contents of 912 channel catfish (769 containing food) taken iu a short section of the Des Moines River from September, 1940, to October, 1911, are analyzed. The physical and biotic elmraeteristies of the study area are described; a partial list of the fishes present together xvith comments on their importance and relative abundance is included. The ehanuet eatfish is omnivorous, as is revealed by a review of the pertinent literature and by this study. A wide wtriety of organisms is eaten (some 50 families of insects alone are represented--these are listed). Insects and fish serve as staple foods, plant seeds are taken i• season, and various other items are eaten in limited numbers. The principal groups of foods (insects, fish, plants, and miscellaneous) are anMyzed volumetrically, by œrequeney of occurrence, and numerically. In the area studied, catfish grow at a rate of about 4 inches a year during the first 3 years of life (determined by length-frequency analysis). These natural size groups are utilized to establish the relationship between size and food habits. Young fish feed ahnost exclusively on aquatic insect larvae--chiefly midges, blackflies, mayflies, and enddis flies. In fish frmn 4 to 12 inches lo•g insects continue to make up the bulk of the food, but at progressively greater size larger insects (mayflies and caddis flies) are eaten with increasing frequency and dipterans are of less importonce than in the smaller size group; snmll fish and plant seeds become significant items of diet.
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