Food Habits of Irondequoit Bay Fish

Abstract

This report presents an evaluation of the potential impact of dredging a navigation channel connecting Irondequoit Bay and Lake Ontario on the fish populations of the area, based on a study of the food habits of the fish. Most fish are largely opportunistic feeders, subsisting largely on the most readily available and abundant food organisms. Yet there may be great differences in the food habits of species or fish inhabiting any given region. These differences result from differences in physical adaptations of a species, the size of the fish, and the particular habitat occupied, Species of fish of differing food habits may respond quite differently to the proposed dredging operations as the result of differing effects on the food organisms. The information in this report supplements that of our previous report concerning the potential environmental impact of the Irondequoit Bay dredging project (Ellis, Haines and Makarewicz, 1976).