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Turbidity, caused by suspended clay particles, significantly reduced feeding rates but not size selectivity of bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus) preying on two size classes of Daphnia pulex. Bluegill feedling rates in a 3-minute period declined from approximately 14 prey per minute in clear water to 11, 10, and 7 per minute in pools of 60, 120, and 190 NTU (nephelometric turbidity units), respectively. Size selectivity was independent of turbidity level; the proportion of large daphnia consumed was approximately 0.70 in all treatments and the control. These turbidity levels covered the range of turbidities found in North Carolina lakes.
Mark B. Gardner (Fri,) studied this question.