Walter and Austin: Diet composition of Morone saxatilis in Chesapeake Bay 



421 



Mesohaline, 458-710 mm 



(n=2.')9) 



croakerweakfisti 



butterfisri 2% 2% 

 4% 



Mesohaline, 711-1151 mm 



(H=14()) 



eel gizzard shad 

 weakfish ,% 



6% 





menhaden 

 58% 



flounder 

 15% 



Figure 3 



Percent by weight of prey in the diet of striped bass captured in the fall (September-December). Note that only 

 stomachs with contents other than bait were used in the construction of these figures. 



450 -\ 



M)0 - 



Ql 150 



from invertebrate to vertebrate prey in the 

 diet of smaller striped bass. In the present 

 study, we sampled size ranges above 458 

 mm and found no clear ontogenetic dietary 

 shift between vertebrate and invertebrate 

 prey. Invertebrates, primarily blue crab, 

 constituted a minor percentage of the over- 

 all diet and were significant in the diet only 

 in May and September in mesohaline wa- 

 ters of Chesapeake Bay. This is in contrast 

 to the high percentages of invertebrates 

 found in the diets of large striped bass in 

 New England waters and likely represents 

 latitudinal differences in the availability of 

 fish prey (Nelson et al.^). 



The seasonal and spatial differences in 

 the diet of striped bass correspond to the 

 behavioral and seasonal migration pat- 

 terns of the fish and reflect changes in the 

 community composition at the location and 

 time of capture. The major seasonal trend 

 is spring feeding on gizzard shad, anad- 

 romous herrings, and white perch, corre- 

 sponding to spawning migrations of both striped bass and 

 their prey into tidal freshwater Many spring samples came 

 from upper river sites where gizzard shad and white perch 

 are year-round residents and herrings are anadromous mi- 

 grants (Murdy et al., 1997). This pattern of spring feeding 



P<0.05, 1^^0.26 



Plot 



250 500 750 1000 



Striped bass total length (mm) 



Figure 4 



of prey total length against total length for striped bass. 



1250 



on anadromous herrings and gizzard shads was also found 

 by Trent and Hassler 1966) in the Roanoke River, NC. 



Striped bass captured in spring from the lower, more sa- 

 line sections of the rivers exhibited high levels of feeding 

 intensity and consumed primarily menhaden, sciaenids, 

 anchovies, and blue (VIMS^) crabs. In the spring, Manooch 



2 Nelson, G. A., B. C. Chase and J. Stockwell. 2002. Feeding 

 habits of striped bass {Morone saxatilis) from coastal waters 

 of Massachusetts, 29 p. Massachusetts Department of Marine 

 Fisheries Annisquam River Marine Fisheries Field Station 30 

 Emerson Ave. Gloucester, MA 019.30. 



' VIMS (Virginia Institute of Marine Science). 2002. Juvenile 

 fish and blue crab trawl survey. VIMS, P. O. Box 1346 Glouces- 

 ter Point. VA 23062. http://www.fisheries.vims.edu/vimstrawl 

 data/. (March 20011 



