Enumeration of prey items in stomachs of European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus L.) which contain digested fragments

European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) is a dominant zooplanktivorous fish in many praealpine lakes and of great commercial interest. Estimation of prey consumed by European whitefish is essential for the prediction of top down effects in the pelagic zone. Whitefish is known to feed selectively on cladocerans. Quantitative estimates of prey consumed by whitefish are often not easy to get because stomachs frequently contain only degraded fragments of already digested prey. In this study stomach contents of European whitefish which were composed of digested, degraded prey were analyzed. Daphnid prey could be quantified by the number of mandibles divided by two, the number of head capsules and abdomina present. Predatory cladocerans could be quantified by the number of mandibles divided by two and the number of tail appendages present. For stomachs which contained heavily digested fragments counting the mandibles proved to be a useful and sometimes the only applicable means to quantify prey items. Other body parts, like structured legs which were broken into many pieces, were unsuited to quantify prey items.