Michael N. Morgan John R. P. French III 1995 <p><span>We tested prey preferences of adult (200- to 222-mm long) redear sunfish (</span><i>Lepomis microlophus</i><span>) on two size classes of zebra mussels (</span><i>Dreissena polymorpha</i><span>) and two-ridge rams-horns (</span><i>Helisoma anceps</i><span>) in experimental aquaria. We also tested physical limitations on consuming these mollusks and determined prey bioenergetic profitability. Redear sunfish strongly preferred rams-horns over zebra mussels, but they displayed no size preference for either prey. Ingestion was not physically limited since both prey species up to 15-mm long fit within the pharyngeal gapes of redear sunfish. Rams-horns were more bioenergetically profitable than zebra mussels and ingestion of rams-horn shell fragments was about three times less than zebra mussels. Rams-horns were somewhat more resistant to shell-crushing, but all size ranges of both prey species tested were crushable by redear sunfish. These studies suggested that the redear sunfish should not be considered a panacea for biological control of zebra mussels.</span></p> application/pdf 10.1080/02705060.1995.9663416 en Taylor & Francis Preference of redear sunfish on zebra mussels and rams-horn snails article