Laserfiche WebLink
5 <br /> <br />Stomach contents were separated, identified, and counted into major <br />taxonomic levels or food item categories using a binocular directing <br />scope. Most macroinvertebrates were identified to order, genus, or family <br />while some were unidentifiable because of their mutilated condition <br />(Figure 2). <br />Food item weights for macroinvertebrates and/or fish from fish spe- <br />cies (e.g. Ptychocheilus, Ictalurus, Gila, and Notropis) with relative- <br />ly short stomachs and unconvoluted intestines were obtained using an <br />average value from the length-weight method (Hynes 1961 and Hynes and <br />Coleman 1968) and the weights for the mayfly Ephemerella subvaria (Waters <br />and Crawford 1973). The Hynes method assumes that an insect's shape is <br />that of a cylinder, 5 times as long as wide, and that as it grows linearly <br />its volume increases cubically. This is true for most macroinvertebrates <br />(except Chironomidae-midges and Ceratopogonidae-biting midges which are <br />thinner, approximately 7.5 to 10 times as long as wide) up to a length <br />of 10 mm. The Waters and Crawford weights were obtained from direct <br />weight measurements of mayflies which had been collected for production <br />estimations. For example, the weight of a 4 mm long specimen would be <br />2.51 mg using an average of these two methods (Figure 3)• <br />The following subsample method was used to obtain food item numbers <br />and biomass for fish species (e.g. Pimephales and Catostomus) which <br />had long convoluted intestines packed with an amorphic paste of silt, <br />debris, and/or seston. The intestine was unraveled and measured by <br />laying it on a plastic ruler. It was cut in the middle and the inside <br />diameter was measured. A 2 mm long section of gut was removed from <br />one intestine half (adjacent to the cut) and the contents were