Depth and Littoral Habitat Association of Age-0 Yellow Perch in Two South Dakota Glacial Lakes

Authors

• Daniel J. Dembkowski, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
• Melissa R. Wuellner, South Dakota State University
• David W. Willis, South Dakota State University

Date of this Version

12-2011

Document Type

Article

Citation

The Prairie Naturalist 43(3/4): 121–123. December 2011

Comments

Published by the Great Plains Natural Science Society, 2011. Used by permission.

Abstract

Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) are a recreationally important species and represent a key ecological component of glacial lake littoral fish assemblages (Stone 1996, Blackwell et al. 1999). Research has shown a generalized pattern of juvenile (age-0) yellow perch spatial distribution wherein larvae hatch in near-shore areas, migrate to limnetic areas where they remain for approximately 40 d, and then return to demersal behaviors and within near-shore littoral habitats (Noble 1975, Whiteside et al. 1985). However, anomalous distribution and habitat use by age-0 yellow perch has been observed in South Dakota glacial lakes (Fisher and Willis 1997) and the spatial distribution and habitat association of post-larval (>25 mm) age-0 perch is largely unverified in northern Great Plains glacial lakes. Herein, we report the depth distribution and near-shore (0–2 m depth) habitat association of post-larval, age-0 yellow perch (hereafter referred to as age-0 yellow perch) in two northeastern South Dakota glacial lakes.