Abstract

Food composition of otter, Lutra lutra, was studied by the analysis of 349 spraints found during one year period (2003–2004) at the River Kamenice (Czech Republic), where Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, fry have been stocked regularly since 1998 in a reintroduction programme for the species. Brown trout, Salmo trutta m. fario, dominated otter diet and formed 29% of all prey items and 62% of biomass of all fish eaten. The second most abundant prey (27%) was common sculpin, Cottus gobio, followed by Atlantic salmon, and grayling, Thymallus thymallus. The proportion of salmon in the diet of otters amounted to 14.5% in numerical abundance of all prey items taken and 2% in biomass of fish component of the diet. The majority (71.5%) of fish eaten by otters had a total length between 61 to 200 mm.

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