Are there any reports of paddlefish eating other fishes? I saw a picture of a dead paddlefish that got choked on a catfish a little while ago
Paddlefish Predation on other fishes
Started by
Guest_butch_*
, Apr 14 2014 07:38 PM
13 replies to this topic
#3
Guest_gerald_*
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Posted 14 April 2014 - 08:39 PM
The "Care Sheet" posted a few days ago by "bigfishfarms" (link below) says to keep them sorted by size or else they will exhibit predatory behavior, and I think moontanman reported awhile back that his paddlefish ate some sunfish.
http://forum.nanfa.o...ts/#entry117353
http://forum.nanfa.o...ts/#entry117353
#5
Guest_gerald_*
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Posted 15 April 2014 - 10:47 AM
It probably happens more in captivity than in the wild. If you're swimming around in open water with your mouth open, you're a lot more likely to engulf a fish in an aquarium or hatchery tank than in a river. ... and if it tastes like food, swallow.
#6
Guest_daveneely_*
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Posted 15 April 2014 - 12:44 PM
Paddlefish are generally considered to use ram suspension feeding to sieve plankters from the water column as adults (Stockard 1907, Ruelle & Hudson 1977, Michaletz et al. 1982, Jennings & Zigler 2009, Smith et al. 2009, Chipps et al. 2009). Other items have been identified in the diet of paddlefish in the wild, including aquatic insects (Ruelle & Hudson 1977, Michaletz et al. 1982) and small fish (Fitz 1966, Hoxmeier & DeVries 1997, Smith et al. 2009, MacVey 2010).
Interestingly, YOY paddlefish are particulate feeders, actively selecting individual food items from the water column (Jennings & Zigler 2009, MacVey 2010) and changing to suspension feeding during early ontogeny. MacVey (2010) identified larvae of Ictalurus furcatus in the diet of a wild-caught YOY paddlefish!
I observed multiple adult paddlefish crashing through schools of YOY Dorosoma below dams on the Tennessee River last summer, and caught a fairly sizeable adult on a shad-imitating streamer (photo below). There are quite a few taken by catfishermen using cut shad on Chickamauga and Nickajack reservoirs; I am skeptical that this represents fish accidentally swimming into the hook since these are often fished on or near the bottom, and suspect that paddlefish are like many other predominately filter-feeding fishes in that they won't pass up an opportunity for an easy meal when it's available.
Adult paddlefish in captivity at the Tennessee Aquarium are fed primarily smelt and herring. A system designed to feed zooplankton would result in water clarity issues that are unacceptable at a public aquarium.
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Chipps, S.R., H.D. Symens, and H. Bollig. 2009. Influence of cladoceran composition and abundance on survival of age-0 paddlefish. American Fisheries Society Symposium 66:411-422.
Fitz, R.B. 1966. Unusual food of a paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) in Tennessee. Fish and Wildlife Branch, Tennessee Valley Authority 2:356.
Hoxmeier, R.J., and D.R. DeVries. 1997. Habitat use, diet, and population structure of adult and juvenile paddlefish in the Lower Alabama River. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 126:288-301.
Jennings, C.A., and S.J. Zigler. 2009. Biology and life history of paddlefish in North America: an update. American Fisheries Society Symposium 66:1-22.
MacVey, N.K. 2010. Ontogenetic diet shifts and prey selection among Age-0 and Age-1 paddlefish, Polyodon spathula. Unpubl. MS Thesis, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. 58 pp.
Michaletz, P.H., C.F. Rabeni, W.W. Taylor, and T.R. Russell. 1982. Feeding ecology and growth of young-of-the-year paddlefish in hatchery ponds. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 111:700-709.
Ruelle, R., and P.L. Hudson. 1977. Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) - growth and food of young of year and a suggested technique for measuring length. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 106:609-613.
Smith, N.A., R.E. Condrey, and B.C. Reed. 2009. The feeding ecology of paddlefish in the Mermentau River, Louisiana. American Fisheries Society Symposium 66:51-62.
Stockard, C. R. 1907. Observations on the natural history of Polyodon spathula. American Naturalist 41:753-766.
Interestingly, YOY paddlefish are particulate feeders, actively selecting individual food items from the water column (Jennings & Zigler 2009, MacVey 2010) and changing to suspension feeding during early ontogeny. MacVey (2010) identified larvae of Ictalurus furcatus in the diet of a wild-caught YOY paddlefish!
I observed multiple adult paddlefish crashing through schools of YOY Dorosoma below dams on the Tennessee River last summer, and caught a fairly sizeable adult on a shad-imitating streamer (photo below). There are quite a few taken by catfishermen using cut shad on Chickamauga and Nickajack reservoirs; I am skeptical that this represents fish accidentally swimming into the hook since these are often fished on or near the bottom, and suspect that paddlefish are like many other predominately filter-feeding fishes in that they won't pass up an opportunity for an easy meal when it's available.
Adult paddlefish in captivity at the Tennessee Aquarium are fed primarily smelt and herring. A system designed to feed zooplankton would result in water clarity issues that are unacceptable at a public aquarium.
-----
Chipps, S.R., H.D. Symens, and H. Bollig. 2009. Influence of cladoceran composition and abundance on survival of age-0 paddlefish. American Fisheries Society Symposium 66:411-422.
Fitz, R.B. 1966. Unusual food of a paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) in Tennessee. Fish and Wildlife Branch, Tennessee Valley Authority 2:356.
Hoxmeier, R.J., and D.R. DeVries. 1997. Habitat use, diet, and population structure of adult and juvenile paddlefish in the Lower Alabama River. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 126:288-301.
Jennings, C.A., and S.J. Zigler. 2009. Biology and life history of paddlefish in North America: an update. American Fisheries Society Symposium 66:1-22.
MacVey, N.K. 2010. Ontogenetic diet shifts and prey selection among Age-0 and Age-1 paddlefish, Polyodon spathula. Unpubl. MS Thesis, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. 58 pp.
Michaletz, P.H., C.F. Rabeni, W.W. Taylor, and T.R. Russell. 1982. Feeding ecology and growth of young-of-the-year paddlefish in hatchery ponds. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 111:700-709.
Ruelle, R., and P.L. Hudson. 1977. Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) - growth and food of young of year and a suggested technique for measuring length. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 106:609-613.
Smith, N.A., R.E. Condrey, and B.C. Reed. 2009. The feeding ecology of paddlefish in the Mermentau River, Louisiana. American Fisheries Society Symposium 66:51-62.
Stockard, C. R. 1907. Observations on the natural history of Polyodon spathula. American Naturalist 41:753-766.
#10
Guest_Moontanman_*
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Posted 11 May 2014 - 11:20 AM
Apparently it's more common than I thought.....would you considered the paddlefish to be an opportunistic predator? It seems there are no studies on paddlefish's unusual predation.
I have seen them, in a pond, herd small feeder fish, guppies, into what looks like a bait ball as marine fish do and lunge into the school and swallow them. In fact the ones i had ate feeder guppies with gusto and while they would eat floating pellets they never were as aggressive feeding as they were on feeder fish.
They also seemed to have a knack of eating small crayfish and shrimp even though they were not in the water column, I never got to observe how they caught the shrimp or crayfish because it always happened at night but they shrimp and crayfish would vanish over night as though the paddlefish were aggressively feeding on them. Feeder fish would last several days as the paddlefish ate them.
I had planned to write about them but i had to move so many times it was difficult to keep them, several always died when I moved. I plan to do it again now that I am in a place where i plan to stay long term.
#11
olaf
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Posted 13 May 2014 - 09:07 AM
A paddlefish on a fly! I've spent a lot of time thinking about and trying to catch unusual species on a fly, but never even considered putting paddlefish in that fantasy. Wow.
Redhorse ID downloads and more: http://moxostoma.com
#12
Guest_Moontanman_*
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Posted 13 May 2014 - 09:07 PM
Apparently it's more common than I thought.....would you considered the paddlefish to be an opportunistic predator? It seems there are no studies on paddlefish's unusual predation.
It's possible the predation I observed was an artifact of captivity, if I manage to get some more next month I am going to keep better records and with luck I won't have to move for a few years...
#13
olaf
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Posted 14 May 2014 - 08:48 AM
I'm never surprised when a filter-feeder is also occasionally/situationally carnivorous. Grabbing a big chunk of free nutrition without much effort is worthwhile.
I'm curious whether there have been any studies of the digestive systems of filter-feeding fishes vs. predatory fishes, and how well the filter-feeders' systems can digest and extract the food value from larger prey and how well they can get rid of the larger (in size and quantity) waste.
I'm curious whether there have been any studies of the digestive systems of filter-feeding fishes vs. predatory fishes, and how well the filter-feeders' systems can digest and extract the food value from larger prey and how well they can get rid of the larger (in size and quantity) waste.
Redhorse ID downloads and more: http://moxostoma.com
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