Growth Patterns in Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) and Pumpkinseed (L. gibbosus) Sunfish: Environmental Variation and the Importance of Ontogenetic Niche Shifts

Abstract

Size-specific growth rates were determined for bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) and pumpkinseed (L. gibbosus) sunfish collected between 1978 and 1985 in nine lakes in southwestern Michigan. Variation in growth rates was attributable to lake effects as well as an interaction between lake and year effects. Year effects explained none of the observed variation, suggesting that growth rates were influenced more by unique lake differences than by annual climatic differences. Analyses of the covariation in growth among different size-classes of bluegill and pumpkinseed revealed that small bluegill (< 55 mm standard length (SL)) and small pumpkinseed (< 40 mm SL) exhibited similar responses to environmental factors, while large bluegill (> 55 mm SL) and large pumpkinseed (> 50 mm SL) responded differently. These breaks in the growth patterns coincide with the sizes at which each species exhibits an ontogenetic shift in diet. Comparison of growth rates and resource densities suggests that the growth rates of the large fishes were food limited. Small fishes showed significant density-dependent growth. This correlative evidence for competition is in agreement with recent experimental work. We suggest that the competition between juvenile sunfishes is driven by the effects of adult resources on adult performance and the eventual recruitment of juveniles into the littoral habitat.