Food Habits Of Three Centrarchidae In Lake George, Florida

An investigation of the stomach contents of bluegill, black crappie, and redear sunfish was made from specimens collected during several months of 1948, 1949, and 1950, in Lake George, Florida. Major items found in stomachs of 432 large bluegills were: aquatic vegetation, crustacea, insecta, and fish eggs. Fifty-five stomachs from small bluegills contained, principally, Cladocera and Diptera larvae. Dorosoma petenensis vanhyningi (Weed) was the major food organism found in 145 black crappie. An analysis of 69 redear sunfish stomachs showed snails (Amnicola sp.) were the dominant food of this species.