HOBSON: FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS OF FISHES 



Figure 18. — Priacanthus cruentatus, a bigeye, showing the plain red coloration typical of this species when among the 



coral during the day. 



cruentatus in the Marshall Islands is concerned. 

 Although conceding the possibility of some noc- 

 turnal feeding, they believed that this species cap- 

 tures octopods, a major food there, in reef crevices 

 and caves during the day. This conclusion was 

 heavily influenced by finding food in the stomachs 

 of this priacanthid during the day, but none in 

 stomachs of the nocturnally active holocentrids. 

 As noted above, I found a similar difference be- 

 tween P. cruentatus and holocentrids in Kona, but 

 attribute this to the priacanthid retaining food in 

 its stomach longer during digestion than do 

 holocentrids. 



Longley and Hildebrand (1941) noted that this 

 circumtropical species feeds chiefly at night in 

 Florida, a conclusion with which Starck and Davis 



(1966) concurred. In the West Indies, Randall 



(1967) was of the same opinion, but he also felt 

 that the condition of prey in some specimens indi- 

 cated diurnal feeding as well; Randall noted that 

 P. cruentatus preys mostly on the larger animals 

 in the plankton. Collette and Talbot (1972) con- 

 cluded that in the Virgin Islands this is a crepus- 

 cular species that continues to feed in caves and 

 under ledges during daytime. 



Gosline (1965) reported that P. cruentatus in 



Table 19. — Food of Priacanthus cruentatus. 



949 



