STICKNEY, TAYLOR, and HEARD: FOOD HABITS OF FOUR FLOUNDERS 



Scophthalmus aquosus 



S. aquosus were present in Georiga coastal 

 waters primarily during the spring (March 

 through May). Few specimens were captured dur- 

 ing the remainder of the year (Figure 8). S. 

 aquosus fed nearly exclusively on N. americana 

 during all seasons and in all locations. Several 

 species of Crustacea, fish remains, and an ectoproct 

 made up the remainder of the food organisms 

 found in the stomachs of S. aquosus (Table 1). 



There was no change in food habits with size 

 as found in A. quadrocellata and C. spilopterus, 

 even though S. aquosus longer than 150 mm 

 were captured. There were few animals in the 

 size ranges above 74 mm, however, and the 

 presumed food habits may reflect a lack of 

 samples. Most of the fish captured were rather 

 small. The relative abundance of small fish 

 compared with the larger sizes is probably a good 

 indication of their relative abundance in nature. 



CONCLUSIONS 



The four bothid fish species examined during 

 this study are all relatively small fishes which feed 

 on a variety of organisms. All appear to be totally 

 carnivorous, since no plant material was re- 

 covered from the stomachs. Because of the pre- 

 dominance of certain organisms within the stom- 

 achs and the lack of detritus and sand so common 

 in animals which indiscriminately browse off 

 the sediments, they appear to be selective feeders. 

 This selectivity apparently relates to the ability 

 of bothids to feed by sight (de Groot, 1971). 



E. crossotus was found to feed heavily on Ps. 

 coronatus , and secondarily on spionid polychaetes, 

 especially Pa. pinnata. The small mouth relative 

 to body size of £■. crossotus may play an impor- 

 tant role in the food habits of this species. By 

 the same token, the larger mouths of the other 

 species may prohibit them from feeding on small 

 food items. 



A. quadrocellata, C. spilopterus, andS. aquosus 

 fed heavily on A^. americana, however, A. quadro- 

 cellata and C spilopterus adjusted their food 

 habits, becoming more diversified and utilizing 

 T. constrictus as a primary food organism as they 

 grew larger. The food habits of S. aquosus 

 did not change with increasing size within the 

 range of sizes examined. The relatively larger 

 mouths of these three species seem important in 



SPRING 



Z 



O SUMMER 



^ FALL 



WINTER 



t RIVERS 



g SOUNDS 



25-49 

 E 50-74 



X 75-99 



I- 



100-124 



LlI 



in 



125-149 



150 - 174 



Neomysis americana 



Neomysis americana 



Neomysis omericana 



Neomysis americana 



c N=95 

 N=2 

 N = 7 

 N = l 



Neomysis amencano 



J[\ N = 24 



Neomysis americana 



Fsc- N=86 



Neomysis americana 



Neomysis americana 



Neomysis americana 



C - 



Neomysis omencano 



Neomysis americana 



Neomysis amencano 



c - N = ll 



N =75 



N= 12 



N = 5 



N = 3 



N = 4 



c- 



10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 

 CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE 



Figure 8. — Histogram illustrating the feeding habits of 

 Scophthalmus aquosus by season of the year, locality, and 

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

 bar, F = fish remains, and C = Crustacea other than 

 Neomysis americana. ) 



allowing them to consume food organisms of 

 larger sizes than those eaten by E. crossotus. The 

 three fishes with the larger mouths fed to some 

 extent on other species of fishes, whereas no fish 

 remains were found inthe stomachs ofE. crossotus. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



The authors are grateful to Walter Sikora for 

 providing specimens from the area in the vicinity 

 of Sapelo Island, Ga., and to the Savannah Science 

 Museum for allowing us access to some of their 

 specimens from Wassaw and Ossabaw Sounds. 

 This study was supported in part by the IDOE 

 Office of the National Science Foundation (GX- 

 33615). Ship support was provided by NSF Grant 

 GD37558 (Office of Oceanographic Facilities and 

 Support). 



LITERATURE CITED 



Dahlberg, M. D., and E. P. Odum. 



1970. Annual cycles of species occurrence, abundance, and 



523 



