Prey detection by the blue-eye Pseudomugil signifer Kner (Atherinidae): analysis of field behaviour by controlled laboratory experiments

Abstract

Observations in a brackish creek in eastern Australia indicate that the blue-eye, P. signifer, includes various kinds of insects in its diet in the proportions encountered, provided that they are below a maximum size dictated by the mouth-gape of the fish. Encounter rates are affected by prey body size and water turbidity, but not by hunger level of the fish. Fish fed on insects at rates varying between 0.04 and 0.08 mg s^-1.