USE OF TERRESTRIAL ARTHROPOD PREY BY A STREAM-DWELLING CYPRINID FISH

The spatio-temporal availability to, and use of terrestrial (allochthonous) prey by, a subset of the fish assemblage of a Virginia piedmont stream were investigated during spring and summer. Terrestrial invertebrates were most abundant in drift nets, but least common in fish stomachs, during April. In contrast, during August, terrestrial prey dominated the diet of the major cyprinid fish, Notropis ardens, even though terrestrial prey availability in the stream declined by an order of magnitude. Several other co-occurring fishes only rarely consumed prey of terrestrial origin. Drifting terrestrial invertebrates were concentrated at the surface near the thalweg, compared to stream margin or substrate locations. This study suggests that morphological and behavioral constraints of individual fish taxa, including predator avoidance responses, regulate the use of terrestrial prey within a given fish assemblage.