FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72. NO. 2 



O 

 V) 

 < 



UJ 



< 

 u 

 o 



E 

 E 



X 



I- 

 o 



z 



UJ 



_l 



d 



I- 



SPRING 



SUMMER 



FALL 



WINTER 



RIVERS 

 SOUNDS 



25-49 

 50-74 



75-99 

 100-124 

 125-149 

 150-174 



175-199 



Neomys'S (mericona 



Neomysis amenc 



Trochypeneus 

 ccnstrtctus 



Neomysis amerlcono 



Trachypeneus 

 consir ictus 



Nsomysis omthcoKi 



Neopanope 

 •oyi 



U P,C, N = I66 

 N = 7 

 N =37 



7 



Squilla 

 •P 



[] N 



Neomysis omencana 



Fa C N = 



Neomysis americona 



27 



F, p a c N = 190 



Neomysis omencona 



u| N = 



Neomysis americona 



Neomysis am«ricana 



Neomysis amsncono 



Neomysis omericono 



constncrus pugio 



Trochypeneus constnctus 



N sayi 



Neopanope 3 

 soyi 



Co Po Fish P a C 



3 

 N = 58 



N=88 



N=29 



N=4 



N«I4 



N^ll 



10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 



CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 



Figure 6.— Histogram illustrating the feeding habits of 

 Ancylopsetta quadrocellata by season of the year, locality, 

 and standard length. (N = number of stomachs analyzed for 

 each bar, U = Unciola serrata, P = polychaetes, C = Crus- 

 tacea other than those specifically identified in the bar, 

 F = fish remains, Ps = Pseudodiaptomus coronatus, and 

 T. constrictus = Trachypenaeus constrictus, P. pugio = 

 Palaemonetes pugio, N = Neomysis americana, S = Squilla 

 sp., H = Hexapanopeus augustifrons, Ca = Cancer ir- 

 roratus, and Po = Portunus gibbesii. 



50 mm. This may also relate to mouth size dif- 

 ferences between the species. Studies with Para- 

 lichthys lethostigma and P. dentatus reared in the 

 laboratory on brine shrimp, Artemia salina, 

 indicate that once the flounders reach sufficient 

 size (in this case about 25 mm), they have diffi- 

 culty retaining ingested A. salina nauplii (Stick- 

 ney and White, unpubl. data). The nauplii tend 

 to be flushed through the gills and out the oper- 

 culums. While the fish are still able to hunt 

 the A. salina by sight, they do not seem to ingest 

 a great number of nauplii. The relative mouth 

 sizes of P. lethostigma and P. dentatus are simi- 

 lar to those of A. quadrocellata, C. spilopterus, 

 and S. aquosus. 



Citharichthys spilopterus 



The food habits of C. spilopterus in relation to 

 season of the year, location, and size are docu- 



mented in Figure 7. The majority of the fish 

 examined were captured during the summer (June 

 through August). No fish were captured during 

 the winter months (December through February). 

 N. americana was the dominant species occurring 

 in the stomachs of C. spilopterus during each of 

 the three seasons for which data are available. 

 A greater proportion of T. constrictus occurred 

 in fishes captured in sounds than in those taken 

 from rivers. The percentage of A^. americana and 

 fish remains in the stomachs of C. spilopterus 

 from the two localities were nearly identical. 



Food habit patterns relative to standard length 

 of C. spilopterus were similar to those observed in 

 A. quadrocellata. N. americana became less impor- 

 tant as food with increasing size in C. spilop- 

 terus. T. constrictus became the dominant organ- 

 ism in C. spilopterus of 125 mm and above. N. 

 americana was absent in the stomachs of fishes 

 longer than 125 mm. 



Fish less than 50 mm were not obtained in the 

 trawls. It is possible that all sizes of C. spilop- 

 terus do not occur in Georgia estuarine waters 

 but merely that they migrate through the south- 

 eastern Atlantic coast during certain seasons of 

 the year. Specimens longer than 140 mm were 

 not taken. The seasonal distribution observed 

 agrees with that determined by Dahlberg and 

 Odum (1970). 



o 



CO 



< 



UJ 

 ID 



< 



o 



SPRING 

 SUMMER 



FALL 



RIVERS 

 SOUNDS 



Neomysis omencona 



Neomysis omencona 



Neomysis omencona 



1 N=4 

 N=I83 

 N=23 



Neomysis omericono 



Neomysis omencano 



D" 



N=69 

 141 



N=52 



N=II7 

 N=37 



N = 4 



10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 



CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 



Figure 7.— Histogram illustrating the feeding habits of 

 Citharichthys spilopterus by season of the year, locality, 

 and standard length. (N = number of stomachs analyzed foi" 

 each bar, T = Trachypeneus constrictus, F = fish remains, 

 C = Crustacea other than those specifically identified in the 

 bar, P = Palaemonetes pugio, and S = Squilla empusa.) 



522 



