Abstract
The seasonal variations in the biomass of planktonic and bottom invertebrates and their contributions to the diet of perch Perca fluviatilis and vendace Coregonus albula (>10 cm in body length) in an oligotrophic subarctic lake (Lake Krivoe) are studied. The distinct relationship between the food spectrum of fish with the composition of zooplankton and zoobenthos is revealed. It is shown that fish prefer to feed on mass objects (mainly zoobenthos), but both the seasonal variability of their contribution to the diet and their relative importance in fish of different lengths are significant. Amphipods (Gammarus lacustris and Monoporeia affinis) accounted for >90% in summer and >40% in autumn in the total weight of perch stomach content. Vendace consumed amphipods in the summer (>50%) and mollusks (up to 50%) in the autumn. Cladocerans are important food items in the autumn diet of fish (18–25%). In the diet of larger (18–25 cm) perch, the contributions of sticklebacks and vendace increased, but amphipods still prevailed (>40%).
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Berezina, N.A. and Strelnikova, A.P., The role of the introduced amphipod Gmelinoides fasciatus and native amphipods as fish food in two large-scale north-western Russian inland water bodies: Lake Ladoga and Rybinsk Reservoir, J. Appl. Ichthyol., 2010, vol. 26, no. s2, p. 89. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0426.2010.01493.x
Berezina, N.A., Maximov, A.A., Umnova, L.P., et al., Excretion by benthic invertebrates as important source of phosphorus in oligotrophic ecosystem (Lake Krivoe, Northern Russia), J. Sib. Fed. Univ. Biol., 2017, vol. 10, no. 4, p. 485. https://doi.org/10.17516/1997-1389-0046
Berezina, N.A., Strelnikova, A.P., and Maximov, A.A., The benthos as the basis of vendace and perch diets in an oligotrophic subarctic lake, Polar Biol., 2018, vol. 41, p. 1789. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-018-2319-0
Berezina, N., Kalinkina, N., and Maximov, A., Distribution and functional ecology of malacostracan crustaceans in Russian northern and arctic lakes, in Lake Water: Properties and Uses (Case Studies of Hydrochemistry and Hydrobiology of Lakes in Northwest Russia), Series: Climate Change and Its Causes, Effects and Prediction, New York: Nova Science Publ., 2021, p. 229.
Choi, J., Jeong, K., Kim, S., et al., Distribution and attachment characteristics of Sida crystallina (O.F. Müller, 1776) in lentic freshwater ecosystems of South Korea, J. Ecol. Environ., 2016, vol. 40, p. 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41610-016-0006-z
Czarkowski, T.K., Martyniak, A., Kapusta, A., et al., Feeding ecology of vendace, Coregonus albula (L.), in Lake Wigry (northeastern Poland), Arch. Pol. Fish., 2007, vol. 15, no. 2, p. 117.
Eckmann, R., Mörtl, M., Baumgärtner, D., et al., Consumption of amphipods by littoral fish after the replacement of native Gammarus roeseli by invasive Dikerogammarus villosus in Lake Constance, Aquat. Invasions, 2008, vol. 3, p. 187. https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2008.3.2.9
Eloranta, A.P., Kahilainen, K.K., and Jones, R.I., Seasonal and ontogenetic shifts in the diet of Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus in a subarctic lake, J. Fish. Biol., 2010, vol. 77, p. 80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010.02656.x
Gamst, S., Gjelland, K.Ø., Reshetnikov, Y.S., et al., A planktivorous specialist turns rapacious: piscivory in invading vendace Coregonus albula, J. Fish. Biol., 2011, vol. 78, p. 332. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010.02831.x
Golubkov, S.M., Funktsional’naya ekologiya lichinok amfibioticheskikh nasekomykh (Functional Ecology of Amphibiotic Insect Larvae), Tr. Zool. Inst. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2000, vol. 284.
Haakana, H., Huuskonen, H., and Karjalainen, J., Predation of perch on vendace larvae: diet composition in an oligotrophic lake and digestion time of the larvae, J. Fish. Biol., 2007, vol. 70, p. 1171. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2007.01383.x
Hyslop, E.J., Stomach contents analysis—a review of methods and their application, J. Fish. Biol., 1980, vol. 17, p. 411. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1980.tb02775.x
Khalko, N.A., Tereshchenko, L.I., Malina, Y.I., et al., Seasonal and interannual changes in the feeding spectrum of vendace (Coregonus albula L.) in Lake Pleshcheevo, Inland Water Biol., 2019, vol. 12, p. 98. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995082919050109
Khlebovich, T.V., Structural and trophic characteristics of protozoan plankton in a subarctic lake (Northern Karelia), Inland Water Biol., 2010, vol. 3, p. 260. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995082910030090
Kottelat, M. and Freyhof, J., Handbook of European Freshwater Fishes, Cornol, 2007. ISBN: 978-2-8399-0298-4.
Kulikova, T.P. and Ryabinkin, A.V., Zooplankton and macrozoobenthos of small water bodies of different types of landscapes in southern Karelia, Tr. Karel. Nauchn. Tsentra Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2015, no. 6, p. 47. https://doi.org/10.17076/bg25
Northcote, T.G. and Hammar, J., Feeding ecology of Coregonus albula and Osmerus eperlanus in the limnetic waters of Lake Malaren, Sweden, Boreal Env. Res., 2006, vol. 11, p. 229.
Persson, L. and Eklöv, P., Prey refuges affecting interaction between piscivorous perch (Perca fluviatilis) and juvenile perch and roach (Rutilus rutilus), Ecology, 1995, vol. 76, p. 70.
Reshetnikov, Yu.S., Ekologiya i sistematika sigovykh ryb (Ecology and Taxonomy of Coregonids), Moscow: Nauka, 1980.
Reshetnikov, Y.S., Sterligova, O.P., Anikieva, L.V., and Koroleva, I.M., Manifestation of unusual features in fish exposed to a new environment by the example of vendace Coregonus albula and European smelt Osmerus eperlanus, J. Ichthyol., 2020, vol. 60, p. 491. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945220030145
Schindler, D.E. and Scheuerell, M.D., Habitat coupling in lake ecosystems, Oikos, 2002, vol. 98, p. 177.
Sterligova, O.P., Il’mast, N.V., and Savosin, D.S., Perch Perca fluviatilis (Percidae) of different types of water bodies of Karelia, Uch. Zap. Petrozavodsk. Gos. Univ., 2016, no. 2 (155), p. 57.
Strel’nikova, A.P., Berezina, N.A., and Zhgareva, N.N., Features of summer feeding and food specialization of juvenile perch in Lake Krivoe (northern Karelia), Gidrobiol. Zh., 2019, vol. 55, no. 6, p. 46.
Sutela, T., Digestion of zooplankton in the alimentary tract of vendace (Coregonus albula) larvae, J. Fish. Biol., 1994, vol. 44, no. 4, p. 591. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1994.tb01235.x
Winberg, G.G., Alimov, A.F., Boullion, V.V., et al., Biological productivity of two subarctic lakes, Freshwater Biol., 1973, vol. 3, no. 2, p. 177. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.1973.tb00071.x
Yakovlev, V.A., Presnovodnyi zoobentos severnoi Fennoskandii (raznoobrazie, struktura i antropogennaya dinamika) (Freshwater Zoobenthos of Northern Fennoscandia (Diversity, Structure, and Anthropogenic Dynamics)), Apatity: Karel. Nauchn. Tsentra, Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2005.
Yazıcıoğlu, O., Yılmaz, S., Yazıcı, R., et al., Feeding ecology and prey selection of European perch Perca fluviatilis inhabiting a eutrophic lake in northern Rurkey, J. Freshwater. Ecol., 2016, vol. 31, p. 641. https://doi.org/10.1080/02705060.2016.1220432
Zubova, E.M. and Kashulin, N.A., Feeding of whitefish Coregonus lavaretus, European vendace C. albula, and European smelt Osmerus eperlanus in Lake Imandra, Tr. Fersman. Nauchn. Sessii Geol. Inst. Kol’sk. Nauchn. Tsentra Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2019, vol. 16, p. 203.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful to the staff of the White Sea Kartesh Biological Station, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences.
Funding
This study was carried out by grants from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (АААА-А19-119020690091-0) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 19-04-01000а.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interests. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Statement on the welfare of animals. All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.
Additional information
Translated by D. Pavlov
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Berezina, N.A., Litvinchuk, L.F. & Maximov, A.A. Relations between the Food Spectrum of Fishes and the Composition of Zooplankton and Benthos in a Subarctic Lake. Inland Water Biol 14, 438–448 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995082921040052
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995082921040052