Lake Griffin alligator diet study

Funded by revenues from the "Conserve Wildlife" license plate.

 "Conserve Wildlife" license plate

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Amanda Rice and John White flush an alligator's stomach contents
Water is used to fill the alligator's stomach to capacity and then the alligator is squeezed vigorously -- expelling the stomach contents.

Gizzard shad in other parts of the country are known to have extremely high levels of thiaminase, an enzyme that destroys thiamine. Preliminary results from this study demonstrate that gizzard shad in Florida have high levels of thiaminase and that thiaminase levels can be high in most months of the year.

With the recent increase in gizzard shad numbers and the reduced diversity of the fish population it is possible that Lake Griffin alligators are suffering from thiamine deficiency. However, if the proportion of shad in alligator diets on all three lakes is similar thiamine deficiency may not be a factor in the alligator mortality.