Abstract. -The feeding habits of 

 the vermilion snapper, Rhomboplites 

 aurorubens, were investigated to de- 

 termine the role of this ecologically 

 dominant and economically valuable 

 species in the trophic ecology of 

 southeastern U.S. reef habitats. 

 Trophic ecology was studied by ex- 

 amining stomach contents and by 

 comparing them to samples of 

 benthic invertebrates and near- 

 bottom plankton. Vermilion snapper 

 fed on a variety of infaunal, epifau- 

 nal, and pelagic invertebrates, as 

 well as on demersal and pelagic 

 fishes and cephalopods. The diet was 

 diverse but was dominated numeri- 

 cally by planktonic species. The 

 benthic prey eaten were species as- 

 sociated with hard-bottom reef struc- 

 ture or were infaunal species from 

 sand bottom areas adjacent to the 

 reef. Many species were members of 

 the hyperbenthos or demersal zoo- 

 plankton and were apparently con- 

 sumed in the water column during 

 their nocturnal emergence from the 

 sand or reef. Small crustaceans, es- 

 pecially copepods, sergestid deca- 

 pods, and larvae of barnacles, sto- 

 matopods and decapods, dominated 

 the diet of small (<50mm SL) ver- 

 milion snapper. Larger decapods, 

 fishes, and cephalopods were more 

 important in the diet of larger ver- 

 milion snapper. Vermilion snapper, 

 although reef associated, does not 

 feed heavily on reef species, and may 

 be important in transferring energy 

 from the water column and adjacent 

 sandy areas to the reef. 



Planktonic and benthic feeding by 

 the reef-associated vermilion 

 snapper, Rhomboplites aurorubens 

 (Teleostei, Lutjanidae) * 



George R. Sedberry 



Marine Resources Research Institute 

 PO Box 12559 

 Charleston SC 29422-2559 



Nicole Cuellar 



Gnce Marine Biological Laboratory 

 University of Charleston 

 205 Ft. Johnson 

 Charleston SC 294 1 2 



Manuscript accepted 15 June 1993. 

 Fishery Bulletin 91:699-709 1 19931. 



The vermilion snapper, Rhomboplites 

 aurorubens, is the most abundant 

 lutjanid in the recreational and com- 

 mercial fisheries of the southeastern 

 U.S. (Grimes et al., 1982), and is a 

 dominant component of the reef- 

 associated ichthyofauna off the Caro- 

 linas and Georgia (Sedberry and Van 

 Dolah, 1984). Because of its abun- 

 dance and habit of foraging on small 

 pelagic crustaceans (Grimes, 1979), 

 vermilion snapper may be an impor- 

 tant trophic link between the water 

 column and those reef habitats where 

 it schools during resting periods. If 

 vermilion snapper also forages on in- 

 faunal benthos in adjacent sandy ar- 

 eas, it may be very important in the 

 trophic coupling between the reef and 

 surrounding expansive sandy areas. 

 Vermilion snapper is also fed on by 

 other predatory fishes (Sedberry, 

 1988) and thus may provide trophic 

 links among top-level carnivores and 

 the infauna, holozooplankton, dem- 

 ersal zooplankton isensu Alldredge 

 and King, 1977), and reef benthos. 



Predation by fishes has been shown 

 to be important in transferring en- 

 ergy from the water column or adja- 

 cent sand bottom areas to reef habi- 

 tats (Bray et al, 1981; Meyer and 

 Schultz, 1985; Rothans and Miller, 



1991). Although information on feed- 

 ing is available for some species of 

 reef-associated fishes off the south- 

 eastern United States (Manooch, 

 1977; Grimes, 1979; Sedberry, 1985, 

 1987, 1988), the importance of reef 

 bottom versus adjacent water column 

 and sand bottom habitats as feeding 

 grounds is poorly understood. These 

 reefs support not only a variety of 

 large sessile invertebrates (e.g., 

 sponges, corals, tunicates) and asso- 

 ciated motile organisms ( Struhsaker, 

 1969; Wenner et al., 1983) but also a 

 greater faunal abundance, diversity, 

 and biomass than adjacent sand bot- 

 tom areas of the open shelf 

 (Struhsaker, 1969; Wenner. 1983; 

 Wenner et al., 1983). Because of the 

 rocky outcrops and the warming in- 

 fluence of the Florida Current, these 

 reefs support tropical and subtropi- 

 cal families of fishes, and many eco- 

 nomically valuable serranids, haemu- 

 lids, sparids, and lutjanids, including 

 vermilion snapper (Miller and 

 Richards, 1980; Chester et al, 1984). 

 The greater biomass and diversity of 

 rocky reef habitats, compared with 



Contribution No. 327 of the South Carolina 

 Marine Resources Center and Contribution No. 

 114 of the Grice Marine Biological Laboratory. 



699 



