Feeding of Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar L.) postsmolts in a fjord in central Norway

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Levings, C. D., Hvidsten, N. A., Johnsen, B. Ø.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1994
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Norway; Orkla; Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar; Copepods
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z94-113; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z94-113

The feeding habits of postsmolt Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) caught by two-boat trawling were studied in Trondheimsfjord in central Norway. Fish caught in the inner fjord near the estuaries of the Orkla and Gaula rivers had recently fed on food produced in freshwater and estuarine habitats, namely stonefly and mayfly nymphs and gammarid amphipods. Stomach contents of postsmolts caught farther seaward were dominated by adult insects, with smaller proportions of the food volume originating from marine pelagic (larval fish, hyperiid amphipods, calanoid copepods) and nearshore (gammarid amphipods) habitats.