Note on the Food of Fish in Haweswater (Westmorland)

The examination of 194 stomachs of fish netted on one day from Hawes-water gives some indication of the degree of competition for food between four species of fish. Char (Salvelinus alpinus lonsdalii) and skelly (Coregonus clupeoides stigmaticus) had both fed predominantly on Entomostraca, but for the most part had taken different species, so that there was little overlap in diet. There were indications that the char had fed mainly on the plankton, while the skelly had been feeding nearer the bottom, around beds of weeds. Brown trout (Salmo trutta) and perch (Perca fluviatilis) had eaten larger food and here again there was some indication that the two kinds of fish had either selected different feeding grounds or different organisms on the same feeding ground. The latter explanation is the more likely.