Juvenile River Herring: Diet, habitat, and food resources from the Connecticut River
2023-05-01
Chapter 1 Juvenile river herring
River herring (alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and blueback herring A. aestivalis) are anadromous fish and juveniles feed on zooplankton during their residence in freshwater (Figure 1.1). In lakes with high densities of planktivores, juvenile river herring can deplete food resources. These shifting zooplankton densities may influence the growth, health, and emigration timing of juvenile river herring. However, these relationships are not yet fully understood. This research aims to clarify the relationship between juvenile river herring and zooplankton through targeted sampling of three freshwater coves along the Connecticut River. The coves were stratified along the southern portion of the Connecticut river. Hamburg Cove is the closest to the mouth of the river, Chapman Pond is in the middle, and Wethersfield Cove is the furthest upstream. Once per month (June-September of 2019), a combination of juvenile river herring, zooplankton samples, and environmental data were collected. This website provides information on data cleaning, database building, and data visualization. Please email Meghan-Grace Slocombe with any questions.
Figure 1.1: Juvenile river herring
