Does Prey Community Composition Effect the Way Different Behavioral Types Interact with Their Environment?

We examined how different exploratory behavioral temperaments of largemouth bass responded to differing prey communities in experimental ponds and examined effects on growth, survival and diet.  We found evidence that non-explorer largemouth bass target young-of-year bluegill early on in life, but bluegill were not an important diet item by late summer.  The presence of young-of-year bluegill as prey does appear to affect the foraging strategy of the two exploring temperaments differently.  In the absence of small bluegill both temperaments feed primarily on benthic invertebrates and zooplankton.  When small bluegill were present, we saw a shift away from zooplankton as prey for largemouth bass.  However, that shift was toward more benthic invertebrates for non-exploring behavioral types and toward terrestrial insects for exploring behavioral types.  Thus it appears that prey community composition can have important effects on the way in which different behavioral types interact with their environment.