Diel changes in the feeding behaviour of Arctic char ( Salvelinus alpinus) and brown trout ( Salmo trutta) in Ellidavatn, a small lake in southwest Iceland

Abstract

In the lake Ellidavatn, southwest Iceland, the diel activity of Arctic char and brown trout was studied in autumn (September) and spring (April) by removing the fish from gillnets every 3 hours for three days. Additional fish samples, evening and morning, were taken at other times of the year. The catch per unit effort was about 10 times higher during the nighttime than daytime for both char and trout. The median weight of char was lowest near the middle of night (80 g) and highest near the middle of day (140 g). The median weight of trout was also lowest near the middle of night (110 g) and highest near the middle of day (330 g). The main diet of char consisted of the cladoceran Eurycercus lamellatus in September and chironomid larvae in April and the main diet of trout was always sticklebacks. In autumn and spring, the feeding was nocturnal in the char but crepuscular in the trout. The median stomach content of char was highest at dawn (0.52% of body weight) and lowest at dusk (0.14% of body weight). It is proposed that nocturnal char shift through the bottom substrate in search for prey. The median stomach content of trout was highest at 09.00–18.00 and 24.00–03.00 hours (0.13–0.18% of body weight) and lowest at 03.00–06.00 and 18.00–21.00 hours (0.02–0.07% of body weight). Different feeding times may help to secure mutual coexistence of char and trout in a small lake. In autumn and spring, the average daily consumption of char was about 0.8% of body weight, less than half their maximum food intake.