Piscivorous fish exhibit temperature-influenced binge feeding during an annual prey pulse.

Understanding the limits of consumption is important for determining trophic influences on ecosystems and predator adaptations to inconsistent prey availability. Fishes have been observed to consume beyond what is sustainable (i.e. digested on a daily basis), but this phenomenon of hyperphagia (or binge-feeding) is largely overlooked. We expect hyperphagia to be a short-term (1-day) event that is facilitated by gut volume providing capacity to store consumed food during periods of high prey availability to be later digested. We define how temperature, body size and food availability influence the degree of binge-feeding by comparing field observations with laboratory experiments of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), a large freshwater piscivore that experiences highly variable prey pulses. We also simulated bull trout consumption and growth during salmon smolt outmigrations under two scenarios: 1) daily consumption being dependent upon bioenergetically sustainable rates and 2) daily consumption being dependent upon available gut volume (i.e. consumption is equal to gut volume when empty and otherwise 'topping off' based on sustainable digestion rates). One-day consumption by laboratory-held bull trout during the first day of feeding experiments after fasting exceeded bioenergetically sustainable rates by 12- to 87-fold at low temperatures (3 °C) and by  Ëœ1·3-fold at 20 °C. The degree of binge-feeding by bull trout in the field was slightly reduced but largely in agreement with laboratory estimates, especially when prey availability was extremely high [during a sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) smolt outmigration and at a counting fence where smolts are funnelled into high densities]. Consumption by bull trout at other settings were lower and more variable, but still regularly hyperphagic. Simulations demonstrated the ability to binge-feed increased cumulative consumption (16-32%) and cumulative growth (19-110%) relative to only feeding at bioenergetically sustainable rates during the  Ëœ1-month smolt outmigration period. Our results indicate the ability for predators to maximize short-term consumption when prey are available can be extreme and is limited primarily by gut volume, then mediated by temperature; thus, predator-prey relationships may be more dependent upon prey availability than traditional bioenergetic models suggest. Binge-feeding has important implications for energy budgets of consumers as well as acute predation impacts on prey.

Annual sex steroid and other physiological profiles of Pacific lampreys (Entosphenus tridentatus).

We documented changes in plasma levels of estradiol 17-beta (E2), progesterone (P), 15alpha-hydroxytestosterone (15alpha-T), thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), protein, triglycerides (TGs), and glucose in adult Pacific lampreys (Entosphenus tridentatus) held in the laboratory in two different years. Levels of E2 in both sexes ranged from 0.5 to 2 ng/mL from September to March, peaked in late April (2-4 ng/mL), and decreased in May, with levels higher in males than in females. Levels of P were low from September through April, but then increased substantially during May (2-4 ng/mL), with levels again highest in males. Levels of 15alpha-T in males were around 0.75 ng/mL through the winter before exceeding 1 ng/mL in April and decreasing thereafter, whereas females showed a gradual increase from 0.25 ng/mL in November to 0.5 ng/mL in April before decreasing. Thyroxine concentrations differed between fish in each year, with most having levels ranging from 0.75 to 2.5 ng/mL in the fall and winter, and only fish in 2003 showing distinct peaks (3-4 ng/mL) in early April or May. Plasma T3 was undetectable from November through mid-March before surging dramatically in April (ca. 150 ng/mL) and decreasing thereafter. Levels of protein, TGs, and glucose decreased or were stable during the fall and winter with TGs and glucose surging in late April to early May for some fish. Our study is the first to document long-term physiological changes in Pacific lampreys during overwintering and sexual maturation and increases our understanding of the life history of this unique fish.

Correlation of gene expression and contaminant concentrations in wild largescale suckers: a field-based study.

Toxic compounds such as organochlorine pesticides (OCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants (PBDEs) have been detected in fish, birds, and aquatic mammals that live in the Columbia River or use food resources from within the river. We developed a custom microarray for largescale suckers (Catostomus macrocheilus) and used it to investigate the molecular effects of contaminant exposure on wild fish in the Columbia River. Using Significance Analysis of Microarrays (SAM) we identified 72 probes representing 69 unique genes with expression patterns that correlated with hepatic tissue levels of OCs, PCBs, or PBDEs. These genes were involved in many biological processes previously shown to respond to contaminant exposure, including drug and lipid metabolism, apoptosis, cellular transport, oxidative stress, and cellular chaperone function. The relation between gene expression and contaminant concentration suggests that these genes may respond to environmental contaminant exposure and are promising candidates for further field and laboratory studies to develop biomarkers for monitoring exposure of wild fish to contaminant mixtures found in the Columbia River Basin. The array developed in this study could also be a useful tool for studies involving endangered sucker species and other sucker species used in contaminant research.