Percid occupation of submersed riverine macrophytes: food resource partitioning between perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) and ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus L.)

In a reservoir tailwater of the large, lowland Warta River, perch and ruffe coexist in a macrophyte habitat, which develops as a result of low water discharge in the late spring and summer. At the beginning of each year the diet of both percids, when shorter than 100 mm, is dominated by large, benthic Hydropsyche. Later in the year, epiphytic Chironomidae and Simuliidae replace these trichopterans in the perch diet, and benthic Chironomidae replace them in the ruffe diet. Large cladoceran species then become accessory food items for perch. Consequently, the food niche overlap of these two percids during the research period is only marginal.