Abstract
Abstract The effects of vegetative cover and relative size of prey were tested on the forage preference of juvenile largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides offered blue tilapias Tilapia aurea and bluegills Lepomis macrochirus in laboratory electivity experiments. When offered forage at or near the maximum consumable size in tanks without vegetative cover, largemouth bass preferred bluegills, but consumed blue tilapias in the presence of vegetation. When offered forage smaller than the maximum consumable size in tanks without vegetation, largemouth bass selected blue tilapias. Differences between the forage species in body morphology and effective use of protective cover apparently caused the changes in prey selection. Our results suggest blue tilapias may be a suitable forage for largemouth bass, but that habitat characteristics and relative size distributions of other available forage may affect their use.
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