Lepomis Macrochirus and Gambusia Affinis)
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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1989 Palatability of Freshwater Surface Hemiptera to Potential Fish Predators (Lepomis macrochirus and Gambusia affinis) Julie Heyward Mounts College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Fresh Water Studies Commons, and the Oceanography Commons Recommended Citation Mounts, Julie Heyward, "Palatability of Freshwater Surface Hemiptera to Potential Fish Predators (Lepomis macrochirus and Gambusia affinis)" (1989). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539625502. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-6msd-y891 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PALATABILITY OF FRESHWATER SURFACE HEMIPTERA TO POTENTIAL FISH PREDATORS (LEPOMIS MACROCHIRUS AND GAMBUSIA AFFINIS) A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Biology The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Julie Heyward Mounts 1989 ProQuest Number: 10628126 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10628126 Published by ProQuest LLC (2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS '// A a ' Julie Heyward Mounts Approved, October 1989 Grego^fr M/ Capelli, CMirman Garnett R. Brooks a ht'l ^Norman J . Rarshing ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLE DGEMENTS i v LIST OF TABLES........................................... v LIST OF FIGURES.......................................... vii ABSTRACT.................................................. viii INTRODUCTION...................................... 2 GENERAL SURVEY AND IDENTIFICATION....................... 7 MATERIALS AND METHODS.................................... 13 RESULTS................................................... 19 DISCUSSION................................................ 40 LITERATURE CITED......................................... 44 VITA...................................................... 46 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude and appreciation to my committee chairman, Dr. Gregory M. Capelli, under whose direction this research was conducted, for his guidance and constructive criticism. I am also grateful to Drs. Garnett R. Brooks and Norman J. Fashing who served on my committee and critically reviewed this manuscript, providing valuable comments and support. I thank Mrs. Jewel Thomas for helping to photograph the insects pictured in this manuscript and providing slides of the insects and tables used in the oral presentation. A special thank you is extended to my husband for his continual help and encouragement, and to my parents and brother for their support. iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Prey item information.......................... 8 2. Responses of Gambusia affinis to prey items... 21 3. Responses of juvenile Lepomis macrochirus to prey items 2 4 4. Responses of adult Lepomis macrochirus to prey items in 198 8 2 6 5. Mean number of Gambusia affinis attacks per prey item. Size classes of fish and replicate experiments from different years are combined. 2 7 6. Mean number of juvenile Lepomis macrochirus attacks per prey item. Size classes of fish and replicate experiments from different years are combined 2 8 7. Total number of prey items eaten by Gambusia affinis as a function of size class. Data from replicate experiments combined 3 0 8. Total number of prey items eaten by juvenile Lepomis macrochirus as a function of size class. Data from replicate experiments combined...... 31 9. Stomach analysis results for Gambusia affinis (8/15/88). Data expressed as percent of fish containing the item, for various times of day. 3 3 10. Stomach analysis results for Gambusia affinis (8/22/88). Data expressed as percent of fish containing the item, for various times of day. 3 4 11. Stomach analysis results for Gambusia affinis (9/25/88). Data expressed as percent of fish containing the item, for various times of day. 3 5 12. Stomach analysis results for juvenile Lepomis macrochirus in 1988. Data expressed as percent of fish containing the item. ............... 38 v 13. Stomach analysis results for adult Lepomis macrochirus in 1988. Data expressed as percent of fish containing the item................... 39 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page la. Trepobates inermis (adult-left, nymph-right) lb. Rheumatobates palosi............................ 9 2a. Rheumatobates tenuipes 2b. Gerris marginatus............................... 10 3a. Mesovelia mulsanti 3b. Microvelia americana............................ 11 4. Microvelia pulchella............................ 12 5. Experimental tank set-up........................ 14 6a. Typical contents of a Gambusia affinis stomach including several Diptera larva. 6b. Gambusia affinis stomach containing nymphal Trepobates inermis.............................. 32 7. Typical contents of a juvenile Lepomis macrochirus stomach containing Diptera larva and several small Pelecypoda 3 7 vii ABSTRACT Using laboratory experiments, I determined the palatability of eight species of freshwater surface Hemiptera to potential fish predators (Lepomis macrochirus - bluegill, and Gambusia affinis - gambusia). Species tested included five from the family Gerridae (Trepobates inermis, Rheumatobates palosi, Rheumatobates tenuipes. Gerris marginatus. and Gerris remiais), one from the family Mesoveliidae (Mesovelia mulsanti), and two from the family Veliidae (Microvelia americana and Microvelia pulchella). Field collections of gambusia and bluegill were also made to determine by stomach analysis the importance of surface Hemiptera in their diet. The Gerridae tested were palatable to gambusia and bluegill but both Veliidae were unpalatable to both fish species. Results for Mesovelia mulsanti were mixed: gambusia rejected them while bluegill ate them. Stomach analyses indicated that surface Hemiptera are probably at most only an incidental and sporadic part of fish diets. viii PALATABILITY OF FRESHWATER SURFACE HEMIPTERA TO POTENTIAL FISH PREDATORS (LEPOMIS MACROCHIRUS AND GAMBUSIA AFFINIS) INTRODUCTION For many years ecologists have focused on predation as a major factor in the structure of communities, including aquatic ones. One aspect of predation, the unpalatability of the prey as a possible defensive mechanism in aquatic environments, has not received much attention until recently (Kerfoot 1982). Whirligig beetles (Gyrinidae) (Benfield 1972), predaceous diving beetles (Dytiscidae) (Schildknect et al. 1966), and aposematically colored water mites (Arachnoides) have been found unpalatable to fish (Kerfoot 1982). Two species of Hemiptera have also been found distasteful to fish in direct feeding experiments: pygmy backswimmers - Plea strida (Pleidae) (Kerfoot 1982) and Velia caprai (Veliidae) (Bronmark et al. 1984). In addition, suspected multifunctional compounds (possible sexual attractants, alarm substances, defensive compounds) have been isolated and identified for eight species among the aquatic Hemiptera families Notonectidae, Corixidae, Belastomatidae, Naucoridae, Pleidae, and Gelatotrichidae (Scrimshaw and Kerfoot 1987). Various semi-aquatic Hemiptera of the suborder Heteroptera, infraorder Gerromorpha occupy the surface (neustonic) zone of fresh, brackish, and salt water. These 2 3 insects are often an abundant and very visible component of shallow, near-shore freshwater communities. Preliminary observations indicated that Lake Matoaka and other freshwater lakes and streams in the Williamsburg vicinity contained typical representatives, including the families Gerridae (water striders), Veliidae (broad shouldered water striders), and Mesovellidae (water treaders). Two species of fish are common in the same general habitats: Gambusia affinis (gambusia) and juvenile Lepomis macrochirus (bluegill). Gambusia are generalists feeding on a wide variety of items including mosquito larvae and pupae, copepods, algae, and small fish (Carlander 1969, Flemer and Woolcott 1966). Juvenile bluegill feed on aquatic insects and smaller Crustacea while adults, which generally occur in somewhat deeper water, feed mainly on aquatic insects, small crayfish, and small fish (Carlander 1977). In a review of prior studies Anderson (1982a) listed hunting spiders, damselflies, backswimmers, pelagic fish, frogs, and surface feeding birds as potential predators of surface Hemiptera, but presented no firm evidence. Many surface Hemiptera are known to be cannibalistic, feeding on vulnerable nymphs and smaller individuals (Anderson 1982a). A review of the literature on gambusia and bluegill stomach analyses reveals sporadic and infrequent