Diet and Feeding Strategy of Northern Pike, Esox lucius L., 1758 Inhabiting A Deep Dam Lake from Located Central Anatolia, TÜRKİYE

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4656714/v1

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Diet and Feeding Strategy of Northern Pike, Esox lucius L., 1758 Inhabiting A Deep Dam Lake from Located Central Anatolia, TÜRKİYE

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4656714/v1

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Fish samples were collected monthly from Dam Lake from September 2015 to August 2016 and a total of 133 northern pike, Esox lucius individuals were examined for this study. The feeding intensity showed the highest value during summer (FI = 1.59) while the lowest value was during winter (FI = 0.51). Temperature was identified as the most critical environmental variable influencing feeding intensity. The high similarity in the diet of northern pike was observed between seasons. Stomach content analysis indicated that this species consumed only prey fishes. The most eaten of prey fishes were the Tinca tinca contributing 44.83% by number and 56.16% by frequency of occurrence. There was little variation in feeding features between seasons. The northern pike more specialized on T.tinca and Atherina. boyeri. According to the findings of the study, Esox lucius was a primary predator and showed a specialist feeding behavior, feeding only on fish (mainly T. tinca and A. boyeri). Environmental prey abundance did not affect the prey selection of this fish species in Sıddıklı Dam Lake.

Diet

feeding strategy

feeding habits

food items

predator fish

Esox lucius

Piscivorous fishes are typically considered the most influential top predator or keystone within aquatic ecosystems. These fishes directly and indirectly influence species occupying lower trophic levels and create top-down trophic cascades impacting the entire food-web. Also, aquatic keystone predators that the top level of the food web (piscivorous fish) may have strong effects on the structure, function, and biodiversity of aquatic habitats such as freshwater and coastal ecosystems (Nilsson et al. 2023).

Northern pike (Esox lucius) is a widely distributed freshwater fish in the northern hemisphere (Craig 2008), and it has commercial value in Türkiye (Yazicioglu et al. 2018), also to be used for recreational fisheries in different areas of world (Didenko and Gurbyk 2016; Trella and Woƚos 2021). The northern pike is an important keystone piscivore in many aquatic ecosystems (Kekäläinen et al. 2008) and a top-level predator in aquatic food chains in the northern hemisphere (Winfield et al. 2012). It has a significant influence on the species composition, density, distribution, and structure of the fish populations inhabiting different aquatic habitats (Craig 2008). Pike is a predator that attacks from ambush and spends less energy for catching, handling, and swallowing of the prey (Nilsson and Brönmark 1999). Pike prefer shallow vegetated and low-flow habitats. Because northern pike needs these habitats where can hide and ambush its prey (Casselman and Lewis 1996).

Scientific knowledge on food and feeding habits of fish is both an important condition for increasing fish production (Malik et al. 2019) and important for evaluating the ecological role and position of the species in the food web of ecosystems (Saikia 2015). Besides, Knowledge of the food habits and diets of a fish species is important to understanding many aspects of fish biology, physiology, and behavior. Food and feeding habits of the fishes be affected throughout the day, season, body size, habitat, environmental condition, and food sources available (Malik et al. 2019). Therefore, evaluating nutritional studies according to these basic factors is very important in terms of fish biology and fisheries management.

Information on the feeding features of top predator or piscivorous species, such as diet composition, feeding habits, and feeding strategy, is useful to assess the role of freshwater fishes in the ecosystem. Information obtained from feeding studies can be used for sustainable fisheries management and protection of aquatic ecosystems. The main objective of this study was to comparatively describe the seasonal variations in diet composition, and feeding features such as feeding habits and strategy, and food preferences of top predator northern pike.

Study Area and Sampling

Sıddıklı Küçükboğaz Dam Lake (formerly called Karababa Dam) is a zonal dam on Körpeli Boğaz Creek at the border of the Province of Kırşehir located from Central Anatolian region of Türkiye. This dam lake is composed of clay and rock, with a central core. Dam construction began in 1991 and was finished in 2002. The lake dam is made of clay and filled with rock. It has a 1.62 km² surface area with an active water level of 25.3 hm³ (Akkan et al. 2018). Pike gill nets were simultaneously used to collect fish samples monthly from September 2015 to August 2016 at Sıddıklı Küçükboğaz Dam Lake. The nets were set at dusk, left in the water for 12-hour min, and hauled at 08:00–09:00 h. The nets were composed of pelagic gill nets with bar mesh sizes (knot to knot) of 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 55, 65, and 80 mm. All operations on fish capture and dead fish studied in the laboratory were carried out in accordance with animal health and welfare ethical rules. This study was approved by the animal experiments local ethics committee (document no: 68429034/05). Additionally, our study complies with ARRIVE 2.0 guidelines. Some physical and chemical parameters of the lake water, such as dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature, salinity, pH, conductivity, total dissolved solid (TDS) were measured monthly from September 2015 to August 2016 (Yazıcı 2018) and environmental variables were given Table 1.

Table 1

Monthly changes in some physicochemical parameters of surface water in Sıddıklı Dam Lake from September 2015 to August 2016
Months	Water Parameters
Months	Temperature	pH	DO	Salinity	TDS	Conductivity
September 2015	22.91	8.22	9.38	0.48	6.63	940.00
October	15.77	7.51	14.90	0.52	6.73	850.00
November	10.40	8.41	7.16	0.78	9.95	1100.00
December	3.68	8.41	11.03	0.63	8.29	750.00
January 2016	3.10	8.21	11.79	0.40	5.35	820.00
February	7.40	8.15	11.76	0.44	5.77	890.00
March	8.78	8.25	9.24	0.35	4.55	700.00
April	14.93	8.16	8.79	0.34	4.48	690.00
May	18.10	8.31	7.18	0.34	4.52	700.00
June	20.85	8.40	6.86	0.32	4.28	650.00
July	24.48	8.31	6.02	0.33	4.42	680.00
August	23.05	8.37	5.97	0.33	4.72	700.00

Laboratory Methods and Stomach Content Analysis

A total of one hundred thirty-three (133) samples were examined for stomach analysis. In the laboratory, all fish samples were measured in cm (total length) and weighed in grams. The stomachs were removed by dissection from each specimen and preserved in a 4% formaldehyde solution for afterward analysis. The stomachs were opened during the examination, and the prey was identified, weighed in grams, sorted, and classified to the lowest taxonomic level before being preserved in 70% ethanol. Also, full and empty stomach weights were measured with a precision of 0.01 g. When a prey item was mostly digested, identification of prey fishes was based on scales, pharyngeal bones (cyprinids), opercular bones, vertebrae, and the location of the mouth and eyes (Pavlović et al. 2015).

To compare the change of feeding intensity between seasons the fullness index (FI = weight of stomach content/ weight of fish *100) and the vacuity index (VI%= the number of empty stomachs/total number of the examined stomachs* 100) were calculated (De Santis and Volta 2021). Low feeding activity is considered when high vacuity index is observed (Martinho et al., 2012). Kruskal-Wallis test (K-W test) was used to analyze whether seasons affected the fullness index (FI) in northern pike. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to determine the relationship between fullness index (FI) and physicochemical parameters of surface water. Also, A chi-square test (χ2) was applied to determine the vacuity index (%VI) changes between the seasons.

Traditional methods such as percentage frequency of occurrence (FO%= number of stomachs containing prey i/number of stomachs with any food item* 100), numerical percentage (N%= number of prey i/total number of all prey items* 100), and percentage by weight (W%= weight of prey i/total weight of all prey items* 100) of dietary analysis were used to determine feeding features (Hyslop 1980). The main food items were identified using index of relative importance (IRI) of Pinkas et al. (1971), as modified by Hacunda (1981).

$$\:IRI=\left(\%N+\%W\right)\times\:\%FO$$

This index has been expressed as the percentage of each prey item;

$$\:\%IRI=\left(IRI/\sum\:IRI\right)x\:100$$

For computation of the relative amounts of intraspecific competition between seasons, simplified Morisita-Horn index (C_h) based on %N data was used (Horn 1966):

$$\:{C}_{h}=\frac{2\:\left(\sum\:{p}_{ij}{p}_{ik}\right)}{\sum\:{p}_{ij}^{2}+\sum\:{p}_{ik}^{2}}$$

where C_h is the Morisita-Horn index of diet overlap between different seasons p_ij is the proportion of food type “i” f the total food quantity by seasons “j,” p_ik is the proportion of food type “i” of the total food used by seasons “k” and, n is the total number of food types. The degree of overlap was classified as low (0.0–0.29), moderate (0.30–0.59), and high (0.60–1.00) (Langton 1982).

The selectivity of prey categories in the diet was statistically tested with x²-test, utilizing Pearre's C index of prey selection. The index value (Va) varies from − 1 (prey avoidance) to + 1 (prey selection), with 0 indicating random prey selection (Pearre 1982).

$$\:Va=\frac{({a}_{d}\times\:{b}_{e})-({a}_{e}\times\:{b}_{d})}{\sqrt{a\times\:b\times\:d\times\:e}}$$

where Va is Pearre’s index for pike selection of prey a, ad is the abundance of prey a in the diet, be is the abundance of all other prey in the environment, bd is the abundance of all other prey in the diet, and ae is the abundance of prey a in the environment.

Values without subscripts are expressed as follows:

$$\:a={a}_{d}+{a}_{e}$$

$$\:b={b}_{d}+{b}_{e}$$

$$\:d={a}_{d}+{b}_{d}$$

$$\:e={a}_{e}+{b}_{e}$$

The statistical significance of the selection index value (Va) was tested using the chi-squared test.

$$\:{x}^{2}=n\times\:{C}^{2}$$

The value of relative abundance (ae) used in the prey selection index for each fish species inhabiting Sıddıklı Dam Lake was obtained from Yazıcı (2018).

Feeding strategy was determined from the plot of percentages of prey-specific abundance (Pi%) against frequency of occurrence (FO). Prey specific abundance, the percent numerical abundance of a prey item averaged over the stomach samples in which it occurs, was calculated using the methodology in Amundsen et al. (1996).

$$\:Pi=\left(\frac{\sum\:Si}{\sum\:Sti}\right)*100$$

where Pi = Prey specific abundance of prey i; Si = Abundance of prey in stomachs and Sti = Total abundance of prey in predators that contain prey i. For specialist feeding, prey items appear in the upper part of the plot, while generalists have all prey points in the lower part.

During this study, 133 specimens of Esox lucuis were collected. Of these, 73 specimen (54.9%) had food item, while 60 (45.1%) had empty stomachs.

The feeding intensity of E. lucius according to season was shown in Fig. 1. The vacuity index (VI%) was highest during winter (49.2%) and lowest during summer (28.6%) (Fig. 1). VI% values did not reveal significant differences between seasons (x² = 2.832, p > 0.05). The fullness index which is a real indicator for feeding intensity exhibited the highest values during Summer (FI = 1.59) and Autumn (FI = 1.13), while the lowest values were during winter (FI = 0.51) and Spring (FI = 1.07) (Fig. 1). The change between seasons in the vacuity index was not found to be statistically significant. (K-W test, p > 0.05).

Spearman rank correlation analysis indicated that there was a positive correlation between fullness index (FI) and temperature (rs = 0.117), pH (rs = 0.05), total dissolved solid (TDS) (rs = 0.061), and conductivity (rs = 0.064), but not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The negative correlation between fullness index (FI) and dissolved oxygen (rs = -0.058) and salinity (rs = -0.173) was detected. The differences were statistically significant in the salinity parameter (p < 0.05), while differences were not statistically significant in the dissolved oxygen parameter (p > 0.05).

General diet composition

The diet of pike comprised six (6) food items, containing only prey fish species. The diet of 73 pike samples included 116 prey items, comprising Tinca tinca (52), Atherina boyeri (40), Cyprinus carpio (8), Squalius seyhanensis (8), Alburnus orontis (5) and, unidentified fish (3). (Table 1). T. tinca was the dominant prey in number with 44.83%, followed by A. boyeri (N = 34.48%). The frequency of occurrence of T. tinca was the highest (56.16%), followed by A. boyeri (27.4%). The total wet weight of 116 prey items was 675.88 g. T. tinca was the most frequently consumed prey item with 66.68% by weight, followed by S. seyhanensis with 15.7%. According to the relative importance index (IRI), the most important food items was T. tinca (79.51%), followed by A. boyeri (14.8%) (Table 2).

Table 2

General diet composition of pike (*Esox lucius*) in Sıddıklı Küçükboğaz Dam Lake. n, prey number; N%, numerical percentage; W, prey weight; W%, percentage by weight; O, frequency of occurrence; FO%, percentage frequency of occurrence; IRI, index of relative importance.
Food items	n	N%	W	W%	O	FO%	IRI	IRI%
T.tinca	52	44.83	450.66	66.68	41	56.16	6262.402	79.51
A. boyeri	40	34.48	54.41	8.05	20	27.4	1165.322	14.80
C. carpio	8	6.9	36.2	5.35	8	10.96	134.26	1.70
S. seyhanensis	8	6.9	106.08	15.7	8	10.96	247.696	3.14
A. orontis	5	4.3	13.38	1.98	5	6.85	43.018	0.55
Unidentified fish	3	2.59	6.12	0.91	3	4.11	14.385	0.18
Fish remains	-	-	9.03	1.33	5	6.85	9.1105	0.12
Toplam	116	100	675.88	100			7876.193	100

There was a little seasonal variation in food habits of Esox lucius in studied area (Fig. 2). T.tinca were the dominant prey group during all seasons, particularly from spring (IRI %= 79.71) to summer (IRI% = 80.28). A. boyeri and S. seyhanensis were also present in the diet throughout the year, with a peak value recorded in winter (IRI %= 27.38) and spring (IRI%= 9.39) respectively. C. carpio were present in contents during all seasons except autumn, while A. orontis were only found in autumn. These prey items were observed smaller quantities in diet. Morisita-Horn index showed a high degree of dietary overlap between seasons, ranging from 0.7754 to 0.9675 (Table 3). These overlap values indicated that fishes fed on similar food items when living in this habitat throughout the year. It was show that the least of diet similarity (0.7754) was in autumn-winter. In contrast, the food of northern pike showed an extreme high dietary overlap (0.9675%) in spring-summer.

Table 3

Results of Morisita-Horn indices for the diets overlap between seasons in northern pike.
C_h	Spring	Summer	Autumn	Winter
Spring	-
Summer	0.9675*	-
Autumn	0.8820*	0.8705*	-
Winter	0.8840*	0.9657*	0.7754*	-
* Statistically significant

The dietary pattern of Esox lucius is graphically showed in Fig. 3 where the prey-specific abundance (Pi) is plotted against the frequency of occurrence (FO%). The feeding strategy of the northern pike showed variety for prey items. The diet of northern pike was mostly based on rare species that were eaten occasionally and in relatively small amounts, such as Cyprinus carpio, Squalius seyhanensis, Alburnus orontis and unidentified fish, except for Tinca tinca and Atherina boyeri, which tended to be dominant prey. The population of the northern pike can be considered as a generalist predator with a relatively broad niche width, hovewer population consists of some specialized individuals that feed widely on T. tinca (i.e., prey with a high prey-specific abundance and more than 50% frequency of occurrence) and A. boyeri (i.e., prey with a high prey-specific abundance and less than 40% frequency of occurrence). T. tinca and A. boyeri were located in the upper middle part of the diagram, and this situation demonstrated the importance of these prey items in the diet of northern pike, as well as a trend toward population specialization regarding this prey. These specialized fish shift the feeding strategy of northern pike towards a higher between-phenotype contribution to the utilization of the resource gradient or niche width (Fig. 3). In other words, for a generalist predator like E. lucius, the sharing of food resources is ensured by certain individuals who specialize in consuming limited but plentiful prey.

According to the prey selection index (C), there was positive selection for Tinca tinca (C = 0.5233) and Alburnus orontis (C = 0.1114), negative selection for Cyprinus carpio (C= -0.1193) and Squalius seyhanensis (C= -0.02523), and close to neutral selection for Atherina boyeri (C = 0.009478) by pike individuals. Estimated prey selection indices of the prey fish were statistically insignificant (P > 0.05), except T.tinca (Fig. 4).

This study provided information on the food items and feeding habits of Esox lucius, a predatory fish species caught from Sıddıklı Dam Lake in Türkiye Inland Water. During the study, 73 (64.9%) specimens had food items in their stomach while 60 (45.1%) individuals possessed empty. It was found that the empty stomach rate (VI%) of pike varied between 10.24% and 77% in studies conducted in different habitats (Soupir et al., 2000; Yılmaz and Polat 2005; Alp et al. 2008; Yılmaz et al. 2010; Yazicioglu et al. 2018). Chapman et al. (1989) reported that the proportion of empty stomachs in northern pike is positively related to the frequency of occurrence of prey fish in stomach. Arrington et al. (2002) stated that the presence of a high percentage of empty stomach is a common situation in piscivorous fish. Similarly, the value of VI expressed as the percentage of empty stomachs was high in study area and it was generally consistent with the results of previous studies (Kangur andKangur 1998; Didenko and Gurbyk 2016). Most empty stomachs are probably related to nets stay time of fish and the digestive process after the fish are caught. The high rate of empty stomachs may also be due to the sampling method (gill nets) that causes predator fish to vomit their stomach contents (Didenko and Gurbyk 2016).

Our findings showed that the values of the fullness index (FI) follow an inverse trend to vacuity index values (VI%). This finding is consistent with results for previous studies in different species or habitats (Giarrizzo and Saint-Paul 2008; Yazicioglu et al. 2018). The vacuity index (VI) is an inverse indication of feeding intensity which vary according to variations in the spawning time (Yazıcıoğlu et al. 2016), seasonal changes in water temperature (Okgerman et al. 2013) and food item (Yazicioglu et al. 2018). Seasonal variations in feeding intensity show an increase in the fullness index during summer while, this index be detected a decrease in the winter in this study. Similarly, Bregazzi and Kenndy (1980) determined that feeding increased in summer and autumn, with less intensive feeding during the spawning season and in winter. Alp et al. (2008) reported that the percentage of empty stomachs of this species in Çivril Lake was highest in winter and that it fed more intensively during the spring and summer seasons. Reason of lower feeding intensity in winter is most likely due to lower water temperatures which slow down metabolism. Similar to the results of our study, the main environmental factor affecting feeding intensity of fishes is water temperature (Okgerman et al. 2013; Yazicioglu et al. 2022).

Northern pike consumed a narrow range of prey items in this study and their diet consisted of only prey fishes. The northern pike exhibited piscivorous feeding features in this area, and the present results are similar to the finding of Liao et al. (2002) in Spirit Lake (Iowa, USA), Yilmaz et al. (2010) in Lake Uluabat (Bursa, Türkiye), Yılmaz and Enver (2014) in Sıdıklı Dam Lake (Kırşehir, Türkiye), and Pavlović et al (2015) in Šumarice Reservoir (Serbia). It is thought that the consumption of only fish species in the study is due to the size distribution of the studied samples and the larger body size of food fish compared to benthic invertebrates. Additionally, feeding exclusively on fish may be due to the small surface area of the aquatic habitat studied and the high fish density. However, previous studies reported that this species displayed a highly diversified diet and consumed a broad range of prey items from invertebrate to vertebrate (Soupir et al. 2000; Alp et al. 2008; Yazicioglu et al. 2018; Cathcart et al. 2019). In this study, a total of five different food fish were detected in the stomach of the pike and the most important prey fishes were T. tinca and A. boyeri, respectively. Mêrő (2015) reported that a total of 51 prey-fish species were observed in the stomachs of pike in different studies. The differences of prey fishes in diet composition are mainly due to availability of prey items in different habitats. Cannibalism detected generally in northern pike populations (Alp et al. 2008; Cathcart et al. 2019), however intraspecific predation (cannibalism) did not occur in the northern pike population in this study. Other researchers also not observed cannibalism among northern pike in different freshwater ecosystems (Yilmaz et al. 2010; Pavlović et al. 2015; Jacobson et al. 2019). The reason for the absence of cannibalism is due to the abundance of prey fishes in the lake and the low density of predator species. Furthermore, Craig (1996) found that the occurrence of cannibalism varied according on the availability of prey fish and pike density.

The feeding habits of pike and their predation on fish showed little change depending on the seasons. The most consumed food in all seasons was T. tinca, followed by A. boyeri and S. seyhanensis, respectively. Many studies have stated that there are seasonal changes in the diet of pike (Liao et al. 2002; Alp et al. 2008). The seasonal variations in diet can be associated to the density, abundance, and availability of prey items.

The results of this study showed that some of the analyzed specimens specialized on certain types of prey fish, whereas the entire sample seems to have a generalized feeding strategy. This feeding strategy can be deduced from the fact that a few prey items have a high prey-specific abundance (%Pi) and a low frequency of occurrence. The generalist feeding strategy of the northern pike is likely associated with the fact that the pike is an opportunistic feeder (Sandlund et al. 2016) and can shift prey consumed depending on prey availability (including behavior) and abundance (Craig 2008). The northern pike some individuals tended to exhibit a specialist feeding strategy towards T. tinca and A. boyeri in all seasons, while other prey fishes had low prey-specific abundance and were generally rare prey for pike with generalist feeding strategies. Pike exhibited a similar feeding strategy in The Natural Park of the Ruidera Lakes. This species showed a specialized feeding strategy towards crayfish, but a generalized strategy towards other food items (Elvira et al. 1996). Cathcart et al. (2019) indicated that feeding strategies of northern pike inhabiting 31 different waterbodies in Alaska differed among size classes, and generally feeding strategy showed specialization toward vertebrate prey, generalization toward macroinvertebrate prey, except dragonflies. Yazicioglu et al (2018) reported that changes in feeding features of northern pike living in Ladik Lake depending on size groups (generalist feeding features in small individuals and specialists in large samples).

In present study, Tinca tinca (C = 0.5233) and Alburnus orontis (C = 0.1114) were the most preferred prey fish. Cyprinus carpio (C= -0.1193) and Squalius seyhanensis were negatively selected by pike. A. boyeri, the most abundant species in the lake, is close to neutral selection by pike. Environmental prey abundance was not to shape the prey selection of this fish species in Sıddıklı Dam Lake. Similar results regarding prey preference of northern pike were also reported in Çivril lake (Alp et al. 2008). Alp et al. (2008) reported that Chondrostoma meandrense, Gobio gobio and Tinca tinca were the most preferred food species in Çivril (Denizli) Lake, and Hemigrammocapoeta kemali and Aphanius anatolicus were not preferred. The littoral zone of lakes and dam lakes is important for fish species, especially herbivorous and omnivorous species due to protection from predatory fish, breeding, and nesting or shelter. For marine and freshwater ecosystems, aquatic vegetation that supports a varied and abundant fish population is an important biogenic habitat (Akın and Turgut 2003). Since northern pike are ambush predators that need aquatic vegetation to hide from their prey items, their density is highest in the littoral zone of shallow lotic and lentic ecosystems (Haught and Von Hippel 2011). Thus, they can exhibit predation on Tinca tinca and Alburnus orontis that are abundant littoral zone where aquatic plants occur. The fact that carp is not preferred by pike may be due to the high body height of C. carpio. Factors such as the soft rays (Eklöv and Hamrin 1989; Tyus and Beard 1990) and body height (Alp et al. 2008) of the prey fishes play a role in the pike's preference for its prey. Size, shape, and swimming speed of prey, as well as the quantity and quality of prey available and the level of predator satiation and competition a can play a role in the prey's selective by predator. Mouth form and size of predator can be effective in choosing the type and size of food (Juanes et al. 2002). Magnhagen and Heibo (2001) determined that gape size of the predator and the body depth of the prey are the main factors deciding whether a northern pike can ingest a potential prey fish. Pavlović et al. (2015) reported that northern pike can shift prey preference due to changes in the abundance and vulnerability of prey items in aquatic environments.

Aquatic vegetation provides a significant biogenic habitat for marine and freshwater ecosystems (Akın and Turgut 2003) and reduces the foraging success of predatory fish by obstructing the vision and attack movements of predators. Therefore, the capture time increase (Gotceitas 1990). Similarly, it is thought that the negative selection of S. seyhanensis and the natural selection of A. boyeri may be due to the abundance of aquatic vegetation in the coastal area of the lake.

Conclusion, this study presented the food items, feeding intensity and feeding habits of northern pike during various seasons and feeding strategy in Sıddıklı Dam Lake, Türkiye. Furthermore, it also revealed the relationships between environmental parameters and feeding intensity. Esox lucius showed variations in feeding intensity at seasonal. It was observed that environmental food abundance had no effect on the prey preference of this fish species in the research area. It is thought that the morphological structure of prey fish mostly affects food preference. The present findings on the feeding feature of Esox lucius could contribute to the existing knowledge on sustainable management of this potentially prey fishes with economic and ecological value.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank local fisherman Ali Aydemir for helping us catch fish.

Funding

This work was financially supported by Kırşehir Ahi Evran University, project no. PYO.MYO.4001.15.001.

Data availability

The datasets are available upon request from the corresponding author.

Ethical approval

Fish catching and laboratory procedures for this study were approved by the animal experiments local ethics committee (document no: 68429034/05).

Consent of publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that no conflicting interests exist

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Diet and Feeding Strategy of Northern Pike, Esox lucius L., 1758 Inhabiting A Deep Dam Lake from Located Central Anatolia, TÜRKİYE

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Abstract

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Introduction

Material and Method

Study Area and Sampling

Laboratory Methods and Stomach Content Analysis

Results

General diet composition

Discussion

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References

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