Diets of Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) in Wetland Habitats of Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron

We examined diets of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) from wetlands of Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron during 2004. Stomach contents of 113 yellow perch were examined (70 age 0 and 43 age 1). Among fish prey, small yellow perch, minnows (Cyprinidae), and small largemouth bass (Micropterus sabnoides) had the largest frequencies of occurrence in age-1 yellow perch diets. However, yellow perch seemed to exhibit low selectivity among fish prey. Macroinvertebrate prey consisted primarily of diptera and amphipoda species, which they seemed to preferentially select. Yellow perch seemed to avoid gastropoda and hemiptera species. Chydoridae prey had the highest frequency of occurrence among zooplankton. Yellow perch made an ontogenetic shift from zooplanktivory to insectivory at approximately 3.5 cm standard length (SL) and then switched to piscivory at approximately 8.0 cm SL.