Detection of Predators and Habitat Choice by Small Bluegills: Effects of Turbidity and Alternative Prey

Abstract Studies of sunfish Lepomis spp. have demonstrated that predation regulates size-specific habitat use and competitive interactions both within and among species. However, all of these studies were conducted in clear-water systems with dense littoral vegetation, resulting in well-defined littoral and open-water habitats. In contrast, little is known about predator–prey interactions among fishes that inhabit turbid lakes and reservoirs. In these systems, turbidity reduces detection (reaction) distance for both predator and prey, and can eliminate submerged vegetation that serves as a refuge. In laboratory experiments, we quantified reaction distance of juvenile bluegills Lepomis macrochirus to a predator, largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, and determined shifts by bluegills between nearshore and offshore habitats across a turbidity gradient. Bluegill reaction distance declined as a negative power function of turbidity from less than 2 m in clear water to 23 cm at 10 nephelometric turbidity units...

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