Synopsis
Most optimal foraging models for fishes are based on particulate feeding behavior. But many obligate planktivores also filter zooplankton. I suggest that feeding mode shifts (e.g. from particulate feeding to filtering) may be predictable from the costs and benefits of foraging in various modes. Quantitative examples of feeding mode shifts in three species of fishes (northern anchovy, pacific mackerel and alewife) from 3 different families support this hypothesis. Feeding mode shifts seem to depend on relative profitability of each mode, but improvements in model predictions will need to include the effects of spatial and temporal patchiness on encounter rates of prey of various sizes.
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Crowder, L.B. Optimal foraging and feeding mode shifts in fishes. Environ Biol Fish 12, 57–62 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00007710
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00007710