Data from: Age, growth and fall diet of channel catfish in Cheat Lake, West Virginia

Acidification has historically impaired Cheat Lake's fish community, but recent mitigation efforts within the Cheat River watershed have improved water quality and species richness. Presently, channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus are abundant and attain desirable sizes for anglers. We evaluated the age, growth and fall diet of the population. A sample of 155 channel catfish was collected from Cheat Lake from 5 August to 4 December 2014, a subsample of which was aged (n = 148) using lapillus otoliths. Four growth models (von Bertalanffy, logistic, Gompertz and power) were fit to length at age data and compared using an information theoretic approach. Fall diets were collected from 55 fish sampled from 13 October to 4 December 2014. Total lengths of individuals in the sample ranged from 154-721 mm and ages ranged from 2-19 years. The von Bertalanffy growth model was AICc -selected as the best approximating model, and the power and Gompertz models also had considerable support. Diets were numerically dominated by Diptera larvae, specifically Chironomidae and Chaoboridae, while 39% of stomachs contained terrestrial food items. This study provides baseline data for management of Cheat Lake's channel catfish population. Further, this study fills a knowledge gap in the scientific literature on channel catfish, as few published studies have examined the population ecology of channel catfish in the Central Appalachian region.历史上，酸化作用曾对奇特湖（Cheat Lake）的鱼类群落造成严重损害，但近期奇特河流域（Cheat River watershed）内的生态修复举措已显著改善了水体质量与物种丰富度。当前，奇特湖内斑真鮰（channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus）种群数量充沛，个体体长可达垂钓爱好者青睐的规格。本研究针对该种群的年龄结构、生长特性及秋季食性展开系统评估：2014年8月5日至12月4日期间，从奇特湖共采集155尾斑真鮰样本，其中148尾亚样本采用微耳石（lapillus otoliths）进行年龄鉴定；研究选用von Bertalanffy、逻辑斯蒂（logistic）、冈珀茨（Gompertz）及幂函数（power）4种生长模型拟合体长-年龄数据，并通过信息论方法开展模型比较。此外，研究团队于2014年10月13日至12月4日期间，从55尾样本中获取了秋季食性数据，样本个体的总长度范围为154~721毫米，年龄跨度为2~19龄。经修正赤池信息准则（AICc）筛选，von Bertalanffy生长模型为最优拟合模型，幂函数模型与冈珀茨模型同样具备较高的支持度。食性组成以双翅目（Diptera）幼虫为主，其中尤以摇蚊科（Chironomidae）和幽蚊科（Chaoboridae）占比最高；另有39%的胃容物包含陆生食物类群。本研究为奇特湖斑真鮰种群的管理提供了基准数据，同时填补了学术空白——目前公开文献中针对阿巴拉契亚中部地区斑真鮰种群生态学的研究极少，本研究填补了该领域的知识缺口。