Among-Population Variability of Fish Growth: II. Influence of Prey Type.

Abstract

We tested the significance of the relationship between in situ growth and several diet descriptors using 12 yellow perch (Perca flavescens) populations that varied widely in growth rates. In addition, we tested the assumption of optimal foraging theory that mean prey size is an important regulator of fish growth. The percent contribution of four prey taxonomic groups and six prey size–classes (alone or combined with food consumption estimates) explained between 41 and 95% of among-population variability in growth rates or growth efficiency. We found no significant relationship between growth rates or growth efficiency and mean prey weight. We observed a pattern suggesting the existence of an optimal prey size for (1 mg dry weight) age I + and age II + fish, when the percent contribution of specific prey taxonomic groups or size–classes to the diet was assessed. This pattern was not apparent in the relationship between growth and the mean weight of prey consumed. The energetic advantage of feeding on a given prey type is believed to be related to its low cost/benefit ratio while foraging. Our data indicate that interactions between prey availability (index of searching component of foraging cost) and prey size (index of handling component of foraging cost) are more effectively represented by the percent contribution of a given prey type to the diet than by the mean weight of prey consumed. Our analyses lead us to conclude that the probability of deriving broadly applicable models explaining among-population variability in fish growth rates based on mean prey weight is very low.