Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Western Kentucky University

2015

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Aquaculture and Fisheries

Dietary Overlap Of Native White Bass And Introduced Yellow Bass In Barren River, Micaela L. Montgomery May 2015

Dietary Overlap Of Native White Bass And Introduced Yellow Bass In Barren River, Micaela L. Montgomery

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In the Barren River Lake of south central Kentucky, native white bass, Morone chrysops, has experienced a decline in population after the introduction of yellow bass, Morone mississippiensis. These species are competing for resources due to an overlapping diet, likely contributing to the decline of the white bass. To explore this hypothesis, I examined the stomach contents and otoliths of white and yellow bass caught during their spawning time in spring 2012. There were 40 yellow bass and 128 white bass collected in Barren River upstream of Barren River Lake. Analysis of stomach contents revealed that both white and …