Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nocturnal activity and feeding of juvenile channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, around offshore breakwaters in Lake Kasumigaura, Japan

  • Short Report
  • Published:
Ichthyological Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Diel changes in occurrence and feeding habits of juvenile channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) were examined in offshore breakwater areas in Lake Kasumigaura, Japan, to understand their nocturnal behavioral ecology within a lentic habitat. Juveniles (20–56 mm in standard length) occurred more abundantly in evening and nighttime than in daytime and fed mainly during darkness hours. Major food items comprised chironomid larvae and cladocerans. The relative proportion of those items in stomach contents changed from daytime to evening and nighttime, possibly being partly related to diel changes in prey accessibility.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arayama K (2015) Recent problems on the introduced nonnative fishes in Lake Kasumigaura: current status of channel catfish. J Jpn Soc Water Environ 38:56–60

  • Arayama K, Iwasaki J (2012) Recent problems on the invasive alien fish in Lake Kasumigaura, Ibaraki Prefecture: current status and reduction methods for channel catfish. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 78:761–764

  • Bailey RM, Harrison HM Jr (1948) Food habits of the southern channel catfish (Ictalurus lacustris punctatus) in the Des Moines River, Iowa. Trans Am Fish Soc 75:110–138

  • Brown BE, Inman I, Jearld A Jr (1970) Schooling and shelter seeking tendencies in fingerling channel catfish. Trans Am Fish Soc 99:540–545

  • Endo T, Kaneko S, Igari K, Kanou K, Nakazato R, Kamei R, Usui S, Hyakunari W (2015) Feeding characteristics of the channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus in the littoral zone of Lake Kitaura, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Aquacult Sci 63:49–58

  • Endo T, Kanou K, Tokoro F, Arai M, Katayama S (2017) Age and growth of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus in Lake Kitaura, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 83:18–24

  • Hanzawa H (2004) Diet of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus in the Lake Kasumigaura, Japan. Bull Ibaraki Pref Freshw Fish Exp Sta 39:52–58

  • Hanzawa H, Yanai T (2006) Spawning season, fecundity and length at maturity of channel catfish in Lake Kasumigaura. Bull Ibaraki Pref Freshw Fish Exp Sta 40:1–6

  • Hirayama T, Endo T, Kanou K, Usui S, Kaneko S (2018) Invasion of channel catfsh into small rivers connected to Lake Kitaura, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 84:136–138

  • Hubert WA (1999) Biology and management of channel catfish. In: Irwin ER, Hubert WA, Rabeni CF, Schramm HL Jr, Coon T (eds) Catfish 2000: Proceedings of the International Ictalurid Symposium. American Fisheries Society Symposium 24, Bethesda, Maryland, pp 3–22

  • Hyakunari W, Shibata M, Kanou K, Usui S, Kaneko S, Sano M (2016) Habitat use and diet of larvae and juveniles of the goby Tridentiger brevispinis in the profundal and littoral zones in Lake Kitaura, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 82:2–11

  • Irwin ER, Freeman MC, Costley KM (1999) Habitat use by juvenile channel catfish and flathead catfish in lotic systems in Alabama. In: Irwin ER, Hubert WA, Rabeni CF, Schramm HL Jr, Coon T (eds) Catfish 2000: Proceedings of the International Ictalurid Symposium. American Fisheries Society Symposium 24, Bethesda, Maryland, pp 223–230

  • Jackson DC (2004) Natural history and fisheries. In: Tucker CS, Hargreaves JA (eds) Biology and culture of channel catfish. Elsevier, USA, pp 15–30

  • Japanese Association for Chironomidae Studies (2010) Chironomidae of Japan. Bun-ichi Sogo Press, Tokyo

  • Kanou K, Imai H (2008) Pisces. In: Japan Wildlife Research Center (ed) A photographic guide to the invasive alien species in Japan. Heibonsha, Tokyo, pp 121–176

  • Kanou K, Sano M, Kohno H (2005) Ontogenetic diet shift, feeding rhythm, and daily ration of juvenile yellowfin goby Acanthogobius flavimanus on a tidal mudflat in the Tama River estuary, central Japan. Ichthyol Res 52:319–324

  • Katano O, Sakuma T, Iwasaki J, Kita A, Ozaki M, Sakamoto H, Yamazaki Y, Abe N, Niimi K, Uegaki M (2010) Current status of the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, in Japan. Jpn J Conserv Ecol 15:147–152

  • Lever C (1996) Naturalized fishes of the world. Academic Press, London

  • Love SA, Phelps QE, Tripp SJ, Herzog DP (2017) The Importance of shallow-low velocity habitats to juvenile fish in the middle Mississippi River. River Res Appl 33:321–327

  • Matsuda K (2017) Diel activity and reduced feeding with LED lighting in channel catfish. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 83:639–641

  • Matsuzaki SS, Takamura N, Arayama K, Tominaga A, Iwasaki J, Washitani I (2011) Potential impacts of non-native channel catfish on commercially important species in a Japanese lake, as inferred from long-term monitoring data. Aquat Conserv 21:348–358

  • Molinero A, Flos R (1992) Influence of season on the feeding habits of the common sole Solea solea. Mar Biol 113:499–507

  • Nakai T, Sano M, Kurokura H (2001) Feeding habits of the darkfin hind Cephalopholis urodeta (Serranidae) at Iriomote Island, southern Japan. Fish Sci 67:640–643

  • Nakamura K, Aizaki M (2016) Effect of suspended solid on light attenuation in the shallow and turbid Lake Kasumigaura, Japan: Long term variation of the light attenuation mechanism. Jpn J Limnol 77:13–23

  • Nose T (1962) On the emerging behavior of Chironomus plumosus larvae. Res Rep Freshw Fish Res Lab 11:11–18

  • Phelps QE, Tripp SJ, Garvey JE, Herzog DP, Hrabik RA, Ostendorf DE, Ridings JW, Crites JW (2011) Juvenile channel catfish habitat use in the middle Mississippi River. In: Michaletz PH, Travinichek VH (eds) Conservation, ecology and management of catfish: the second international symposium. American Fisheries Society Symposium 77, Bethesda, Maryland, pp 535–543

  • Ueno R, Iwakuma T, Takamura K (1998) Seasonal and diel drift patterns of Chironomus yoshimatsui (Diptera: Chironomidae) in Otto River, Japan. J Kans Entomol Soc 71: 474–483

  • Usui S, Kanou K, Sano M (2018) Food habits of fishes in a freshwater reed belt in Lake Kitaura, eastern Japan, in summer. Fish Sci 84: in press

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Graham S. Hardy (New Zealand), H. Hanzawa (Ibaraki Fisheries Research Institute) and the anonymous reviewers for critical comments on the manuscript. We also thank the Kasumigaura Fishermen’s Cooperative Association for their support during this investigation. All sampling in this study complied with the Invasive Alien Act in Japan.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Kazunori Arayama

    Present address: Agricultural Policy Division of Ibaraki Prefecture, Mito, Ibaraki, 310-8555, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Water Environment Studies, Ibaraki University, Itako, Ibaraki, 311-2402, Japan

    Kazuya Yamazaki & Kouki Kanou

  2. Freshwater Branch Office, Ibaraki Fisheries Research Institute, Namegata, Ibaraki, 311-3512, Japan

    Kazunori Arayama

Authors
  1. Kazuya Yamazaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kouki Kanou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kazunori Arayama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kazuya Yamazaki.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yamazaki, K., Kanou, K. & Arayama, K. Nocturnal activity and feeding of juvenile channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, around offshore breakwaters in Lake Kasumigaura, Japan. Ichthyol Res 66, 166–171 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-018-0653-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10228-018-0653-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation