Senior Project Advisor
James Helfield
Document Type
Project
Publication Date
Winter 2025
Keywords
stream ecology, fish diets, salmon, trout, sculpin, coho, macroinvertebrates, trophic linkages, Olympic Experimental State Forest (OESF), aquatic invertebrates, forest management
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between fish species and consumed invertebrates in streams of the Olympic Peninsula. Fish (coho salmon, cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, and sculpin) were sampled in streams of the Olympic Experimental Forest Site (OEFS) in the summer of 2023 and preserved for later study. Preserved specimens were dissected, and gut contents were identified to the smallest practical taxon and measured. Larger trout were found to consume significantly larger prey than smaller trout. Differences across fish species of percent proportion of invertebrate orders consumed were analyzed. The largest contributor to gut content in each species was Diptera in coho (57.5% by count), nematodes in cutthroat (20.9%), Diptera in age 0 trout (39.2%), and nematodes in sculpin (38.3%).
Department
Environmental Sciences
Recommended Citation
Russo, Cherise, "Diet Preferences of Fish in the Olympic Peninsula" (2025). WWU Honors College Senior Projects. 914.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwu_honors/914
Type
Text
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf