The Importance of Major Predators on the Nesting Bahavior of Lepomis Macrochirus, Bluegill Sunfish
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Authors
Bellware, Michael S.
Issue Date
2000
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Many seemingly unrelated species share common traits within their reproductive
strategies. One of those strategies found multiple times throughout different organisms is a breeding behavior know as colonial nesting. The onset of colonial nesting in the avian community has long been believed to be a result of predation and ephemeral food
supplies. Only in the past few decades has the colonial nesting behavior of fish been
actively researched. One species in particular, the Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) is found to primarily breed in colonial aggregations. L. macrochirus is also known to neither feed its young nor leave the nest to find food while it still has young. This behavior rules out the notion that social foraging is a determining factor in colonial nesting for this species. Furthermore, research has not been able to completely confirm anti-predation behavior as the sole reason for colonial nesting in Bluegill. However, the most commonly held theory is that L. macrochirus nest colonially to aid in anti-predation measures and those individuals that nest solitarily will therefore face higher predation pressures (Gross and MacMillan, 1981).
This study consisted of using a variety of observational behaviors such as attacks,
defenses, and neighbor chases to test this currently held hypothesis on why L.
macrochirus nest colonially. The result of this experiment was that the theory of solitary
nesting fish experiencing higher predation pressure than colonial nesting fish did not hold true for our experimental situation. Additionally, these results might also lead to a
hypothesis that habitat plays just as important a role in driving L. macrochirus to
coloniality as does predatory pressure.
Description
iii, 28 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo College
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder.