jonathan armstrong – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Trout trick-or-treat: fish gobble furry animals with four feet

Freshwater fish with bellies full of shrews – one trout a few years back was found to have eaten 19 – aren’t as random as scientists have thought.

In some years, probably when shrew populations boom, the small mouse-like land animals end up in the stomachs of a quarter of rainbow trout and Arctic grayling larger than a foot, according to University of Washington-led research in the coastal lakes and streams of Southwest Alaska. (more…)

Some Alaskan trout use flexible guts for the ultimate binge diet

By Guest PostMarch 29, 2013Naturealaska, alec river, atlantic cod, bristol bay region, char family, chignik lake watershed, dolly varden, ecosystems, egg subsidy, eggs roll, intestines, jonathan armstrong, morgan bond, national science foundation, north american members, pacific northwest, salmon carcasses, stomach, thanksgiving feast, trout, university of washington

Imagine having a daylong Thanksgiving feast every day for a month, then, only pauper’s rations the rest of the year.

University of Washington researchers have discovered Dolly Varden, a kind of trout, eating just that way in Alaska’s Chignik Lake watershed.

Organs such as the stomach and intestines in the Dolly Varden doubled to quadrupled in size when eggs from spawning sockeye salmon became available each August, the researchers found. They were like vacuums sucking up the eggs and nipping at the flesh of spawned-out salmon carcasses. (more…)

Tag Archives: jonathan armstrong

Trout trick-or-treat: fish gobble furry animals with four feet

Some Alaskan trout use flexible guts for the ultimate binge diet