title: Thirty-Year-Old Paradigm about Unpalatable Perch Egg Strands Disclaimed by the Freshwater Top-Predator, the European Catfish (Silurus glanis).
abstract: So far, perch egg strands have been considered unpalatable biological material. However, we repeatedly found egg strands of European perch (Perca fluviatilis) in the diet of European catfish (Silurus glanis) caught by longlines in Milada and Most Lakes, Czech Republic. The finding proves that perch egg strands compose a standard food source for this large freshwater predatory fish. It extends the present knowledge on catfish foraging plasticity, showing it as an even more opportunistic feeder. Utilization of perch egg strands broadens the catfish diet niche width and represents an advantage against other fish predators. Comparison of datasets from extensive gillnet and SCUBA diver sampling campaigns gave the evidence that at least in localities where food sources are limited, multilevel predation by catfish may have an important impact on the perch population.
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.|Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Branišovská 31, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Lukáš
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vejřík
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vejříková
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Luboš
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kočvara
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Zuzana
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sajdlová
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Son Chung
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Hoang The
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Šmejkal
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jiří
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peterka
authors.affiliation: Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Čech
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002397:Catfishes; D018153:Czech Republic; D005618:Fresh Water; D005766:Gastrointestinal Contents; D060106:Lakes; D010471:Perches; D011235:Predatory Behavior