A Comparative Study of the Food Habits of Cottus bairdii and Associated Species of Salmonidae

Large populations of Cottus bairdii bairdii Girard, the common sculpin, are numerous in many of the small streams throughout Minnesota. Salmo trutta fario Linnaeus, the brown trout, and Salvelinus fontinalis fontinalis (Mitchell), the common brook trout, are popular game fish in these same streams. The major objective of this study was to determine the extent to which the sculpins and trout were competitors for food. Since the fishes were taken during the fall spawning season of the trout, it was possible to gather some evidence on the question of sculpins eating the eggs of trout.