Thomas R. Hrabik Jason D. Stockwell Allison E. Gamble Edmund J. Isaac 2012 <i>Mysis diluviana</i> is an important prey item to the Lake Superior fish community as found through a recent diet study. We further evaluated this by relating the quantity of prey found in fish diets to the quantity of prey available to fish, providing insight into feeding behavior and prey preferences. We describe the seasonal prey selection of major fish species collected across 18 stations in Lake Superior in spring, summer, and fall of 2005. Of the major nearshore fish species, bloater (<i>Coregonus hoyi</i>), rainbow smelt (<i>Osmerus mordax</i>), and lake whitefish (<i>Coregonus clupeaformis</i>) consumed <i>Mysis</i>, and strongly selected <i>Mysis</i> over other prey items each season. However, lake whitefish also selected <i>Bythotrephes</i> in the fall when <i>Bythotrephes</i> were numerous. Cisco (<i>Coregonus artedi</i>), a major nearshore and offshore species, fed largely on calanoid copepods, and selected calanoid copepods (spring) and <i>Bythotrephes</i> (summer and fall). Cisco also targeted prey similarly across bathymetric depths. Other major offshore fish species such as kiyi (<i>Coregonus kiyi</i>) and deepwater sculpin (<i>Myoxocephalus thompsoni</i>) fed largely on <i>Mysis</i>, with kiyi targeting <i>Mysis</i> exclusively while deepwater sculpin did not prefer any single prey organism. The major offshore predator siscowet lake trout (<i>Salvelinus namaycush siscowet</i>) consumed deepwater sculpin and coregonines, but selected deepwater sculpin and <i>Mysis</i> each season, with juveniles having a higher selection for <i>Mysis</i> than adults. Our results suggest that <i>Mysis</i> is not only a commonly consumed prey item, but a highly preferred prey item for pelagic, benthic, and piscivorous fishes in nearshore and offshore waters of Lake Superior. application/pdf 10.1016/j.jglr.2012.02.017 en Elsevier Prey selection by the Lake Superior fish community article