Keywords
abundance
biomass
production
Baikal omul larvae
diet diversity
Posolsky sor
How to Cite
Abstract
The temporal species composition, abundance, and productivity of zooplankton have a direct impact on the food availability for larval omul (Coregonus migratorius) in Posolsky sor of Lake Baikal. Posolsky sor is a feeding place for omul larvae produced at the Bolsherechensk fish breeding plant. Sampling was carried out during May–October 2024. The feeding period of omul in Posolsky sor coincides with the presence of zooplankton, and this sor serves as its primary forage reserve. Zooplankton composition included 53 species, of which 60% were crustaceans. Maximum density (708 thousand individuals/m3) and biomass (2000 cal/m3) of zooplankton were observed in the second ten-day period of July. During the open water season rotifers constituted the major component (50–80%) of zooplankton, while crustaceans contributed the most to biomass. Based on the zooplankton community structure, as measured by numerical abundance and biomass, the trophic state of the Posolsky sor is classified as mesotrophic with some eutrophic characteristics. Cyclops kolensis (naupliar and copepodid stages) and some species of Rotifera were the most abundant when the omul larvae were present in the sor. Analysis of the gut content of omul larvae revealed the presence of all developmental stages of С. kolensis. From May till the end of June the consumption rate of zooplankton predators (214 cal/m3 per day) slightly surpassed the production rate of the zooplankton community (188 cal/m3 per day). It is notable that during this period ovigerous cyclopoid individuals of the spring community of copepods that are known for their high energy characteristics were found in plankton.
References
Alekseeva TM, Fefilova EB, Sheveleva NG, Timoshkin OA (2024) First record of Canthocamptus (Canthocamptus) microstaphylinus Wolf, 1905 (Harpacticoida, Copepoda) from a shallow coastal area of Lake Baikal. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 103(4): 26–35. https://doi.org/10.31857/S0044513424040037 [In Russian]
Anderson ED, Smith Jr LL (1971) Factor affecting abundance of lake herring (Coregonus artedii Lesueur) in western Lake Superior. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 100: 691–707. https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1971)100%3C691:FAAOLH%3E2.0.CO;2
Andronikova IN (1996) Structural and functional organization of zooplankton in lacustrine ecosystems. Nauka Publisher, Saint-Petersburg, 190 pp. [In Russian]
Anneville O, Berthon V, Glippa O, Mahjoub MS, Molinero JC, Souissi S (2011) Ontogenetic dietary changes of whitefish larvae: insights from field and experimental observations. Environmental Biology of Fishes 91(1): 27–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-010-9755-1
Anoshko PN, Sakirko MV, Nepokrytykh AV, Sheveleva NG (2025) Adjustment of the assessment of the receiving capacity of Posolsky Sor of Lake Baikal for the larvae of the Baikal omul. Rybnoe Khozyaistvo 1: 91–101. https://doi.org/10.36038/0131-6184-2025-1-91-101 [In Russian]
Balushkina EV, Vinberg GG (1979) The relationship between body mass and length in planktonic crustaceans. In: Experimental and field studies of biological foundations of lake productivity. Nauka Publisher, Leningrad, 58–79. [In Russian]
Bobkov AI, Pavlitskaya VP (2003) The ecology of the young posolskaya population of the bottom-deepwater omul. In: Proceedings of the regional scientific and practical conference dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Bolsherechensk fish breeding plant. Irkutsk, 11–23. [In Russian]
Chang CY (2013) Invertebrate fauna of Korea. Arthropoda: Maxillopoda: Copepoda: Cyclopoids. Vol. 21. No. 26. National Institute of Biological Resources, Incheon, 107 pp.
Cubbage ML, Höök TO, Bunnell DB, Dieter PM, Ackiss AS, Collingsworth PD (2024) Larval coregonine density and diet composition along beaches of Northern Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research 50: 102380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2024.102380
Cushing DH (1990) Plankton production and year-class strength in fish populations: an update of the match/mismatch hypothesis. In: Blaxter JHS, Southward AJ (Eds) Advances in Marine Biology. Academic Press, 249–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2881(08)60202-3
Dolgoarshinnykh ZM (1990) Nutrition and dietary interactions of young fish in the coastal zone of Lake Baikal. Dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Biological Sciences. Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, 130 pp. [In Russian]
Einsle U (1996) Copepoda: Cyclopoida genera Cyclops, Megacyclops and Acanthocyclops. Guides to the Identification of the Microinvertebrates of the Continental Waters of the World 10. SPB Academic Publishing, Amsterdam, 83 pp.
Ejsmont-Karabin J (1998) Empirical equation for biomass calculation of plankton rotifers. Polish Archives of Hydrobiology 45(4): 513–522.
Freeberg MH, Taylor WW, Brown RW (1990) Effect of egg and larval survival on year-class strength of lake whitefish in Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 119: 92–100. https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1990)119<0092:EOEALS>2.3.CO;2
Hart JL (1930) The spawning and early life history of the whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis (Mitchill), in the Bay of Quinte, Ontario. Contributions to Canadian Biology and Fisheries 6: 165–214. https://doi.org/10.1139/f31-007
Hébert I, Dunlop ES (2025) Prey availability and diet of early life stages of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in the Fishing Islands of Lake Huron. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 34: e70010. https://doi.org/10.1111/eff.70010
Hoyle JA, Johannsson OE, Bowen KL (2011) Larval lake whitefish abundance, diet and growth and their zooplankton prey abundance during a period of ecosystem change on the Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario. Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management 14: 66–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/14634988.2011.548730
Ivanova MB (1985) The Production of Planktonic Crustaceans in Freshwater Reservoirs. Nauka Publisher, Leningrad, 246 pp. [In Russian]
Kardasheva GP, Nikolaeva EP, Toporkov EP (1981) Zooplankton of Posolsky Sor of Lake Baikal (1972–1975). In: Hydrobiological Studies in Eastern Siberia. Irkutsk, 93–105. [In Russian]
Kitaev SP (2007) Basic limnology for hydrobiologists and ichthyologists. Karelian Research Centre of RAS, Petrozavodsk, 395 pp. [In Russian]
Korovchinsky NM, Kotov AA, Sinev AY, Neretina AN, Garibian PG (2021) Cladocera (Crustacea) of North Eurasia 2. KMK Scientific Press, Moscow, 544 pp. [In Russian]
Kozhov MM (1963) Lake Baikal and its Life. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague, 344 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7388-7
Kozhova OM, Melnik NG (1978) Manual to process plankton samples by counting. Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, 51 pp. [In Russian]
Kryuchkova NM (1987) The structure of the zooplankton community in water bodies of various types. In: Production and hydrobiological studies of aquatic ecosystems. Nauka Publisher, Leningrad, 184–198. [In Russian]
Kutikova LA (1970) Rotifera in the fauna of the USSR (Rotatoria). Eurotatoria subclass (orders Ploimida, Monimotrochida, Paedotrochida). Nauka Publisher, Leningrad, 744 pp. [In Russian]
Lazareva VI, Lebedeva IM, Ovchinnikova NK (2001) Changes of the zooplankton community in the Rybinsk water-reservoir along 40 years. Inland Water Biology 4: 46–57. [In Russian]
Levkovskaya LA (1977) Zooplankton of the bays and lakes in the coastal zone. In: Florensov NA (Ed.) Limnology of the coastal and sor zone of Lake Baikal. Nauka Publisher, Novosibirsk, 175–191. [In Russian]
Lucke VS, Taylor R, Stewart, Vinson MR, Glase JD, Stockwell JD (2020) Larval Coregonus spp. diets and zooplankton community patterns in the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior. Journal of Great Lakes Research 46: 1391–1401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2020.07.001
Ludsin SA, De Vanna KM, Smith REH (2014) Physical-biological coupling and the challenge of understanding fish recruitment in freshwater lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 71: 775–794. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2013-0512
Mäemets AKh (1979) The qualitative composition of pelagic zooplankton as an indicator of trophic lake. In: Anthropogenic impact on small lakes. Tallinn, 54–64. [In Russian]
Mäemets AKh (1980) Changes in zooplankton. In: Anthropogenic impact on small lakes. Tallinn, 54–64. [In Russian]
Methodological guide for the study of feeding and food relations of fish in natural conditions (1974) Nauka Publisher, Moscow, 254 pp. [In Russian]
Methods of hydrobiological studies of inland waters (2024) Krylov AV (Ed.) Filigran, Yaroslavl, 592 pp. [In Russian]
Methodological recommendations for the collection and processing of materials in hydrobiological studies of freshwater bodies. Zooplankton and its production (1984) National Research Institute of Lake and River Fisheries, Leningrad, 33 pp. [In Russian]
Mitsukova LD (1983) The relationship between the chemical composition and the energy value of mass forms of zooplankton in relation to their age during the maturity stage in Lake Bele. In: Trophic connections and their role in the productivity of natural water bodies. Krasnoyarsk, 117–121. [In Russian]
Monchenko VI (1974) Cyclopidae. Fauna of Ukraine 27(3). Naukova Dumka, Kiev, 442 pp. [In Ukrainian]
Neronova SYu, Sheveleva NG, Misharina EA (2023) Current status and trophic relationships of the zooplankton in Posolsky sor of Lake Baikal in 2022. In: Readings in memory of Vladimir Yakovlevich Levanidov 10. Vladivostok, 173–181. https://doi.org/10.25221/levanidov.10.15 [In Russian]
Pavlitskaya VP, Bobkov AI (2000) Characteristics of functioning of early summer zooplankton in Posolsky sor of Lake Baikal nowadays. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Hydroecology Issues at the Turn of the Century. Petrozavodsk, 6–8. [In Russian]
Pikhtova TS (1981) The significance of zooplankton in the diet of planktivorous fish. In: Anthropogenic impact on large lakes of the Northwest USSR. Vol. II. Hydrobiology and bottom sediments of Lake Beloye. Nauka Publisher, Leningrad, 100–108. [In Russian]
Pomazkova GI, Takhteev VV (2009) The meiofauna of mountain and foothill springs in certain areas of Baikal region. In: Biota of the water bodies of the Baikal rift zone. Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, 95–106. [In Russian]
Pothoven SA (2020) The influence of ontogeny and prey abundance on feeding ecology of age-0 lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in southeastern Lake Michigan. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 29(1): 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1111/eff.12498
Pothoven SA, Fahnenstiel GL (2015) Spatial and temporal trends in zooplankton assemblages along a nearshore to offshore transect in southeastern Lake Michigan from 2007 to 2012. Journal of Great Lakes Research 41: 95–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2014.09.015
Pothoven SA, Hook TO, Roswell CR (2014) Feeding ecology of age-0 lake whitefish in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. Journal of Great Lakes Research 40: 148–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2013.09.016
Rivier IK (2000) Zooplankton. In: Current Ecological Situation in the Rybinsk and Gorky Reservoirs: State of Biological Communities and Prospects for Fish Breeding. Yaroslavl State Technical University, Yaroslavl, 175–194. [In Russian]
Romanova EP (1996) Caloric content of zooplankton in the Kuibyshev Reservoir. Biologiya Vnutrennikh Vod. Informatsionnyi Byulleten’ 100: 30–34.
Romanova EP, Bondarenko LF (1984) Caloric content of crustaceans in the Kuibyshev Reservoir. Biologiya Vnutrennikh Vod. Informatsionnyi Byulleten’ 63: 37–42. [In Russian]
Rylov VM (1963) Fauna of the USSR, Crustacea, Freshwater Cyclopoida. Vol. 3(3). Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem, 318 pp.
Savino JF, Blouin MA, Davis DM, Hudson PL, Todd TN, Fleischer GW (1994) Effect of pulsed turbidity and vessel traffic on lake herring eggs and larvae. Journal of Great Lakes Research 20: 366–376. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0380-1330(94)71154-0
Selgeby JH, MacCallum WR, Hoff MH (1994) Rainbow smelt–larval lake herring interaction: competitors or casual acquaintances? US National Biological Survey, Biological Report 25.
Sherstyuk VV (1980) Energy assessment of feed crustaceans. Hydrobiological Journal 16(6): 92–93. [In Russian]
Shirobokov II (1988) Feeding and growth of juvenile coregonids in monoculture and polyculture. Abstract of the dissertation of a candidate of biological sciences. Irkutsk, 24 pp. [In Russian]
Shnyagina GI (1963) Changes of zooplankton in Posolsky sor and adjacent shallow regions of Lake Baikal in May–August (1960 and 1961). Trudy Vsesoyuznogo Gidrobiologicheskogo Obshchestva 13: 56–62. [In Russian]
Smirnov VV, Smirnova-Zalumi NS, Sukhanova LV (2009) Microevolution of the Baikal omul (Coregonus autumnalis migratorius) (Georgi). Nauka, Novosibirsk, 244 pp. [In Russian]
Smyntek PM, Teece MA, Schulz KL, Storch AJ (2008) Taxonomic differences in the essential fatty acid composition of groups of freshwater zooplankton relate to reproductive demands and generation time. Freshwater Biology 53(9): 1768–1782. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2008.02005.x
Sorokin VN, Sorokina AA (1991) Ecology of Fish Reproduction in Lake Baikal. Irkutsk University Press, Irkutsk. [In Russian]
Toporkov IG, Tugarina PYa (1963) On the feeding of juvenile Baikal omul up to two years of age. Trudy Vsesoyuznogo Gidrobiologicheskogo Obshchestva 13: 217–224. [In Russian]
Vanderploeg HA, Cavaletto JF, Liebig JR, Gardner WS (1998) Limnocalanus macrurus (Copepoda: Calanoida) retains a marine arctic lipid and life cycle strategy in Lake Michigan. Journal of Plankton Research 20(8): 1581–1597. https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/20.8.1581
Vilisova IK (1954) A comparative review of the zooplankton from Posolsky sor and the coastal areas of open Baikal. Proceedings of the Baikal Limnological Station 14: 190–262. [In Russian]
Voronova ZB (2023) On the estimation of the commercial return of the Baikal omul of the Posolsk population. In: Problems of conservation of commercial fish stocks: Proceedings of the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Honored Worker of Fisheries of Russia Mikhail Grigorievich Voronov. Buryat State Agricultural Academy named after V.R. Filippov, Ulan-Ude, 53–60. [In Russian]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.