Foods and Feeding of Sauger 



127 



Table 1. Food organisms consumed by sauger from the Ohio River at Gallipolis 

 Locks and Dam, March 1982-April 1982. N = total number of 

 organisms, % N = percentage of all organisms combined, % FO = percent 

 frequency of occurrence of each organism, and % Wt = percentage of 

 the total weight of food items. 



Food Organism 



N 

 160 



%N 

 96.9 



%FO 

 100 



% Wt 



FISH 



99.7 



Unidentified 



50 



30.3 



42.8 



41 



Cyprinidae 



91 



55.1 



48.6 



32.3 



Notropis atherinoides 



90 



54.5 



47.6 



32 



N. chrysocephalus 



1 



0.6 



0.9 



0.3 



Clupeidae 



17 



10.3 



11.4 



24.6 



Dorosoma cepedianum 



17 



10.3 



11.4 



24.6 



Sciaenidae 



1 



0.6 



0.9 



1.8 



Aplodinotus grunniens 



1 



0.6 



0.9 



1.8 



AQUATIC INVERTEBRATES 



3 



1.8 



2.9 



0.2 



Insecta 



3 



1.8 



2.9 



0.2 



Diptera 



3 



1.8 



2.9 



0.2 



Chironomidae larvae 



3 



1.8 



2.9 



0.2 



TERRESTRIAL INVERTE- 











BRATES 



2 



1.2 



1.9 



0.1 



Insecta 



2 



1.2 



1.9 



0.1 



Coleoptera 



1 



0.6 



0.9 



0.05 



Orthoptera 



1 



0.6 



0.9 



0.05 



nesque), and freshwater drum, Aplodinotus grunniens (Rafinesque). 

 Fishes digested beyond identification were found in 43% of the stom- 

 achs (Table 1). 



Terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates occurred in 3% of stomachs 

 containing food and comprised 0.3% of the total volume of food con- 

 sumed (Table 1). 



Forbes and Richardson (1920) examined the stomach contents of 

 14 sauger and concluded that this species feeds entirely on fishes. Pearse 

 (1921) listed the food of sauger as 75% fish, and 25% insects and plank- 

 ton. Dendy (1946) found food in 1,980 of 3,807 sauger stomachs col- 

 lected in 1943 and 1944 from Norris Reservoir. The stomach contents 

 consisted chiefly of shad, with crappie (Pomoxis) second in importance. 

 Priegel (1969) found Lake Winnebago sauger utilizing troutperch, Per- 

 copsis omiscomaycus (Walbaum), as their major food item. Young and 



