DAILY ACTIVITY, MOVEMENTS, FEEDING, AND SEASONAL 

 OCCURRENCE IN THE TAUTOG, TAUIOGA ONITIS^ 



BoRi L. Olla, Allen J. Bejda, and A. Dale Martin- 



ABSTRACT 



Observations were made on the activity and movements of adult tautog, Taiitogu oniiis, 

 in their natural habitat using scuba and by monitoring the movements of individual fish 

 by ultrasonic tracking. Results showed tautog to be active during the day and inactive at 

 night. Fish larger than 30 cm moved out from the night resting place (home site) each day 

 to feed, while younger fish (^25 cm) remained and fed in close proximity to the home site. 

 Examination of digestive tracts from various-sized fish showed the blue mussel, Mytiliis editlis, 

 to be the principal food for this population. While older fish appeared to move offshore 

 for the winter, the younger fish remained inshore, wintering over in a torpid state. The 

 significance of the tautog's differential responsiveness, food habits, and daily and seasonal 

 movements are discussed. 



The tautog, Tautoga o)iitis (L.), an inhabitant of 

 the western Atlantic, ranges from Nova Scotia 

 to South Carolina, being most abundant between 

 Cape Cod and the Delaware Capes (Bigelow 

 and Schroeder, 1953:478-484). Its distribution 

 is limited primarily to inshore regions with 

 individual populations being highly localized 

 (Cooper, 1966). This fish lives in close associa- 

 tion with rocky places, wrecks, pilings, jetties, 

 or almost any bottom discontinuity and for part 

 of its range, is a prominent member of inshore 

 benthic communities. Unlike the majority of 

 labrids, this species is valued as a game fish 

 and is an excellent table fish. 



Our aim in this work was to observe and 

 describe the behavior of adult tautog in situ 

 and to relate our findings to the animal's life 

 habits and history. Our queries primarily con- 

 cerned daily activity and movements, feeding, 

 and seasonal occurrence. The study was carried 

 out on a population residing in Great South 

 Bay, N.Y., using scuba and ultrasonic tracking. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



The study area was along the south shore of 

 Great South Bay, Long Island, N.Y., extending 



' This work was supported in part by a grant from the 

 U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, number AT(49-7)3045. 



- Sandy Hook Laboratory, Middle Atlantic Coastal 

 Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, 

 NOAA, Highlands, NJ 07732. 



east from the Fire Island Inlet Bridge to 2 km 

 east of the Fire Island Light (Figure 1). Water 

 depth in the study area ranged from 2.4 to 8.8 m 

 with the bottom composed primarily of sand, 

 gravel, and shell. 



Two methods were employed to observe the 

 activity and movements of the fish: (1) ultra- 

 sonic tracking of a single fish and (2) direct 

 underwater observations while using scuba. 



Twelve fish were tracked at different times 

 from August through September 1971 and June 

 through October 1972 (Table 1). Fish were 

 captured at night within the Fire Island Coast 

 Guard basin by a scuba diver using a hand-held 

 net, and each fish was held in a floating cage 

 for periods ranging from. 10 to 108 h before a 

 transmitter was attached. 



ATLANTIC OCEAN 



tOOO METERS 



Manuscript accepted June 1973. 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72. NO, 1, 1974. 



Figure 1. — Study area and areas (A-H) of tautog move- 

 ment as presented in Table 1. 



27 



