THE FISH SPECIES PARTICIPATION IN OTTERS’ (LUTRA LUTRA) DIET IN MARITZA RIVER, WEST

Abstract: Six-kilometer stretch of Maritza River was investigated. In the col-lected otter spraints the fish dominated with 63,89 % occurrence and 7 species from all the items. The most “preferred ” fish by the otters were Cyprinus carpio, Esox lucius, Carassius spp. and Barbus cyclolepis. The river’s segment ichtyofauna was represented by 16 fish taxa. The fish taxa in otters ’ diet differed from this one in the river, both as a quantity and species diversity. We suggest some possibilities not ex-cluding each other: 1. Otter prey selection in Maritza River; 2. Feeding of the resident otters in other areas and habitats; 3. Deposition of spraints of vagrant individuals for the area