Hábitos alimenticios de la trucha arcoiris, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Salmoniformes: Salmonidae), en una quebrada altiandina venezolana / Food habits of the rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Salmoniformes: Salmonidae) in an Andean creek of Venezuela

ABSTRACT

Monthly stomach context samples of rainbow trout from Mucunután stream (Mérida, Venezuela), were collected from, March 1987 to February 1988 (n = 306). The major dietary components were Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera and Diptera. Baetodes sp. was the most important food item based on numerical composition (43 per cent) and frequency of occurrence (88 per cent). When the gravimetric method was used Leptonema sp. was the major dietary component. The diet was not a function of sex. The consumed fauna was more similar to the drift invertebrate fauna than to that of benthos (p < 0.01). The fluctuations on the stomach content paralleled changes of food availability in the environment