Diet composition and food selectivity of 0-group herring (Clupea harengus L.) and sprat (Sprattus sprattus (L.)) in the northern Baltic Sea

• Published in: ICES Journal of Marine Science
• Main Author: Arrhenius, Fredrik
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1996
• Subjects: Articles; Pseudocalanus minutus; Copepods
• Online Access: http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/53/4/701; https://doi.org/10.1006/jmsc.1996.0089

Diet composition and prey selectivity of the major Baltic Sea zooplanktivores, 0-group herring ( Clupea harengus ) and sprat ( Sprattus sprattus ), were studied in a coastal area. Diets were dominated by zooplankton, mainly cladocerans ( Bosmina longispina maritima and Pleopsis polyphemoides ) and copepods ( Acartia spp. and Eurytemora affinis hirundoides/Temora longicornis ). There were differences in order of the prey selected by the two different 0-group predators (fish hatched during the sampling year) when analysing each species separately. The general order of prey preference for herring was Acartia > Eurytemora >cladocerans> Pseudocalanus minutus >copepod nauplii and for sprat Eurytemora >cladocerans> Acartia > Pseudocalanus >copepod nauplii. As they grew 0-group clupeoids selected larger prey; the greatest preference was shown for intermediate sized prey (0.7–1.0 mm in cephalothorax length).