forays only four fish (6%) did not return to the home 

 refuge upon termination of the foray. 



The fish generally fed on the bottom and were seen 

 taking mussels, barnacles, and, on occasion, littorinid 

 snails. All of these were abundant (Table 2). If the 

 prey was not taken on the first strike, the cunner often 

 repeatedly struck at the object until it was dislodged. 

 In some cases a cunner gripped a food item that was 

 firmly anchored, bent its body into a U, and then 

 made a series of violent flexing motions which con- 

 tinued until the prey was freed. On 3 of the 69 forays, 

 cunners rose and struck at free-floating plants 

 {Ceramium sp.). Amphipods were concealed within 

 some of these plants, and were probably the targets 

 of the strikes. 



Cunners abandoned the refuges and retreated 

 seaward an average of 61.5 min (SE = 8.6; range 14- 

 108; n = 11) after high tide peaked. Water depth at 

 the time the last fish left the refuge was 71 cm (SD = 

 10; n = 3). Again the movements were made by in- 

 dividuals, not groups. 



I made one observation as sunset fell during the 

 high tide. The seven cunners that were foraging re- 

 treated from the refuge within 17 min after the sun 

 dipped below the horizon. The timing of this retreat 

 was 66.9 min (SE = 4.6) after peak flood tide with a 

 water depth at the refuge of 122 cm. The timing was 

 similar to the normal retreats, but the water was con- 

 siderably deeper than during the other last fish 

 retreats. 



Cunners similar in size to those which foraged inter- 

 tidally were found in the subtidal site during both 

 high and low tides. I counted 43 cunners here, but no 

 feeding behavior was observed. In three random 0.25 

 nr hoop drops, all fell on sand areas, turning up no 

 potential food organisms. I found no mussels or bar- 

 nacles during the dives, perhaps because sediment 

 load owing to wave action renders the habitat unsuit- 

 able. Some littorinids were present. 



Since the refuges were occupied during the high 

 tide dives, this suggests that only part of the local 

 cunner population makes the intertidal movement. 



During the eighteen 100 m snorkel transects I saw 

 pollock, Pollachius virens; tautogs, Tautoga onitis; 

 one American ee\,Anguilla rostrata; one ocean pout, 

 Marcrozoarces americanus; and one winter flounder, 

 Pseudopleuronectes americanus, as well as cunners. 

 Pollock and tautogs were both rare, and I never saw 

 more than three per transect. In the same distance 

 10-20 cunners were typically counted. 



The only birds observed in or slightly seaward of the 

 study site during high tides were double-crested cor- 

 morants, Phalacrocorax auritus. From 2 to 25 in- 

 dividuals were seen during high tide on 8 of 9 d. 



Table 2. — Potential food resources for cunners in the intertidal 

 zone. Values are means from three 0.25 m : surface samples taken on 

 low tide on 9 August. 



1 Valve length 2 5-4.4 cm. 

 2 Valve length 1 cm or less. 



None were present during low tides of the same 

 dates. They appeared wary of divers, and I was able 

 to make only one observation of a foraging cor- 

 morant. Surface visibility was only 5 m due to fog so I 

 did not see the bird when it dived; but when viewed, it 

 was swimming along the bottom poking its head into 

 the hollows under rocks. It did not capture a fish 

 before it noticed me and fled. 



Discussion 



Olla et al. (1975, 1979) have described the depen- 

 dance of subtidal cunners on home shelters, from 

 which they seldom ventured more than a few meters. 

 Yet in this study I found that part of the cunner pop- 

 ulation abandoned subtidal sites to forage in the in- 

 tertidal zone during high tides. These fish moved 

 individually to specific refuges in which they con- 

 gregated and from which individuals conducted 

 rhythmic feeding forays over the surrounding area 

 (Table 1 ). The cunners appeared to choose as refuges 

 only sites with two entrances. A possible reason for 

 this is that two entrances provide quicker access (or 

 exit) during times of danger. During the ebb tide fish 

 abandoned the refuges and moved off, again singly. 



It is generally assumed that temperate wrasses use 

 cover as an antipredator strategy (Olla et al. 1979; 

 Hobson et al. 1981), though these threats have not 

 been documented. The adoption of refuges in the in- 

 tertidal area, similar to the pattern in the subtidal 

 zone, is presumably also in response to a predator 

 threat. During the snorkel transects I saw no piscine 

 predators of cunners. In previous work at the study 

 site I observed striped bass, Marone saxatilis; 

 blue fish, Pomatomus saltatrix; and spiny dogfish, 

 Squalus acanthias, all of which could eat cunners 

 (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953), but these sightings 

 were rare events. In contrast, bird predation may be 

 more important. During eight of nine observations I 

 saw double-crested cormorants, known fish eaters 



427 



