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Diet spectrum of great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis L.) at the Donji Miholjac carp fishponds in eastern Croatia

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Abstract

This paper reports the results of a diet analysis from the digestive tracts of 203 great cormorants shot at the Donji Miholjac fishponds in eastern Croatia, in the period 2000–2002. Eight fish species were determined. The dominant species was common carp (Cyprinus carpio) with a relative frequency of 73.4%, followed by grass carp (Ctenopharingodon idella) (11.6%), bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) (7.2%), pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) (2.0%), wels catfish (Silurus glanis) (1.7%), pike (Esox lucius) (1.5%), topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva) (1.5%) and Prussian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) (1.1%). The diet spectrum of the great cormorants from the Donji Miholjac fishponds was in accordance with the structure of the fish population in the fishponds. The average stomach weight per bird was 244 g. When birds shot with an empty stomach were excluded, the average stomach weight increased to 286 g. The length of consumed fish ranged from 40–335 mm, with 47% of the fish belonging to the length category 100–149 mm. The study revealed no significant relationship between the weight of the consumed fish and the body weight of male and female cormorants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, P.O. Box 719, 31000 , Osijek, Croatia

    Anđelko Opačak, Tihomir Florijančić & Dražen Horvat

  2. Department of Biology, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Jägera 9, 31000 , Osijek, Croatia

    Siniša Ozimec

  3. Faculty of Food Technology, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, F. Kuhača 18, 31000 , Osijek, Croatia

    Dragutin Bodakoš

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  1. Anđelko Opačak
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  2. Tihomir Florijančić
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  3. Dražen Horvat
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  4. Siniša Ozimec
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  5. Dragutin Bodakoš
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Correspondence to Anđelko Opačak.

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Opačak, A., Florijančić, T., Horvat, D. et al. Diet spectrum of great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis L.) at the Donji Miholjac carp fishponds in eastern Croatia. Eur J Wildl Res 50, 173–178 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-004-0059-7

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