Lingcod eating habits?
Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:12 am
Greetings,
There seem to be a lot of Lingcod watchers on this forum; I'm hoping one of you can help me with a question.
At the Feiro Center we have two young Lingcod (Ophidon elongatus) each in the 18 to 24 inch size range (roughly double the size when we acquired them). Both appear to be healthy and properly proportioned.
The thing is - Both of these fish quit eating a few months ago and both refused food for about two months; we went so far as to shove herring (normally a favorite) into their mouths - both would spit the food out immediately. Both animals resumed feeding in late July and now seem to be back to their normal ravenous selves. This phenomenon didn't happen last year when the two were too small and young to be sexually mature.
Since the 'fasting period' seemed to roughly correspond to when folks were posting images of Lingcod guarding eggs, I'm wondering if Lingcod spawning and Lingcod (not) eating are linked. FWIW: We haven't had any eggs or other apparent spawning behavior and don't really know the sex of our two fish.
Thoughts, anyone?
Hungrily yours,
Alex
There seem to be a lot of Lingcod watchers on this forum; I'm hoping one of you can help me with a question.
At the Feiro Center we have two young Lingcod (Ophidon elongatus) each in the 18 to 24 inch size range (roughly double the size when we acquired them). Both appear to be healthy and properly proportioned.
The thing is - Both of these fish quit eating a few months ago and both refused food for about two months; we went so far as to shove herring (normally a favorite) into their mouths - both would spit the food out immediately. Both animals resumed feeding in late July and now seem to be back to their normal ravenous selves. This phenomenon didn't happen last year when the two were too small and young to be sexually mature.
Since the 'fasting period' seemed to roughly correspond to when folks were posting images of Lingcod guarding eggs, I'm wondering if Lingcod spawning and Lingcod (not) eating are linked. FWIW: We haven't had any eggs or other apparent spawning behavior and don't really know the sex of our two fish.
Thoughts, anyone?
Hungrily yours,
Alex