Predatory fish

Predatory fish are fish that predate upon other fish or animals. Some predatory fish include perch, muskie (muskellunge), pike, walleye, and salmon.

Levels of large predatory fish in the global oceans are estimated to be about 10% of their pre-industrial levels.^[1] Large predatory fish are most at risk of extinction; there was a disproportionate level of large predatory fish extinctions during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 65 million years ago.^[2] Creation of marine reserves has been found to restore the population of large predatory fish as the Serranidae — groupers and sea bass.^[3]

Predatory fish switch between types of prey in response to variations in their abundance. Such changes in preference are disproportionate and are selected for as evolutionarily efficient.^[4]

Predatory fish may become a pest if they are introduced into an ecosystem in which they become a new top predator. An example, which has caused such trouble in Maryland, is the snakehead fish.^[5]

Predatory fish such as sharks and tuna form a part of the human diet, but they may concentrate significant quantities of mercury in their bodies if they are apex predators, due to bioaccumulation.^[6]

See also

• Feeding frenzy
• Scale eating
• Shark attack
• Shark feeding

References

1. ^ Myers, Ransom A.; Boris Worm (15 May 2003), "Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities", Nature (Macmillan) 423 (6937): 280–283, doi:10.1038/nature01610, PMID 12748640, http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v423/n6937/abs/nature01610.html. 
2. ^ "Study unravels why certain fishes went extinct 65 million years ago". eScienceNews. 26 March 2009. http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/03/26/study.unravels.why.certain.fishes.went.extinct.65.million.years.ago. Retrieved 2009-09-30. 
3. ^ Garry R. Russ, Angel C. Alcala (2003), "Marine Reserves: rates and patterns of recovery and decline of predatory fish, 1983–2000", Ecological Applications 13 (6): 1553–1565, doi:10.1890/01-5341, http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/01-5341 
4. ^ WW Murdoch, S Avery, MEB Smyth (1975), "Switching in predatory fish", Ecology (Ecological Society of America) 56 (5): 1094–1105, doi:10.2307/1936149, JSTOR 1936149 
5. ^ US acts over predatory fish, BBC, 23 July 2002, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2145741.stm 
6. ^ Definition of predatory species of fish to which the higher level of methyl mercury applies, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 6 May 1994, http://www4.fao.org/cgi-bin/faobib.exe?rec_id=347423&database=faobib&search_type=link&table=mona&back_path=/faobib/mona&lang=eng&format_name=EFMON 

External links

• Predatory fish on AquaticCommunity.com
• Predator fish in oceans on alarming decline, experts say Washington Post, 21 February 2011.

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