Food Habits of Small Hatchery-Reared Florida Largemouth Bass

Linear selection indexes of zooplankton prey taxa (Li) were calculated for 250 hatchery-reared Florida largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides floridanus). Fish began feeding at a mean total length of 6.7 mm and exhibited positive selection for copepod nauplii. Sequentially, selection shifted to copepod adults for 7.5-10.5-mm fish, to adult copepods and cladocerans for 10.9-20.4-mm fish, and, lastly, to predominantly immature insects for 22.8-mm fish. Although selection values were negative for 7.5-10.5-mm fish feeding on cladocerans, 30% more cladocerans than copepod adults were consumed. No rotifers were found in gut contents of fish even though they were present in high numbers in ponds.