Tiger salamanders ( Ambystoma tigrinum) and stocked rainbow trout ( Salmo gairdneri): potential competitors for food in Manitoba prairie pothole lakes ( Gammarus, Chaoborus).

Abstract

Tiger salamanders were aquatic and coexisted with rainbow trout from May until early August, the first half of the trout growing season. Salamanders were benthic and ate Gammarus almost exclusively. Trout were mainly limnetic and in May-June consumed mainly Chaoborus larvae and Gammarus, switching almost entirely to Gammarus in July and August. The considerable overlap in diet and only partial segregation in time (season) and space indicate a potential for competition for food. This is probably minimized by differences in mouth size and the plasticity of feeding by trout.-from Sport Fishery Abstracts