SCHWARTZ AND PORTER: FISHES. MACROINVERTEBRATES OFF NORTH CAROLINA 

 Table 7.— Continued. 



and was noted to have killed a large Strombus 

 alatus. Hyman (1955:369) pointed out that species 

 of Luidia eat mainly other echinoderms. At this 

 time, we do not consider L. alternata a calico scal- 

 lop predator. 



Luidia clathrata was a predator of calico scal- 

 lops (Table 8). Between March and June we found 

 small numbers of scallop valves (ranging from 0.9 

 to 11.6 and 21.1 to 45.3 mm) in L. clathrata 

 stomachs (Table 9). Maximum predation took 

 place (April) just as calico scallop spawning began. 

 Why large scallops (21-45 mm lengths) were fed on 

 only in March and April is not known. The data 

 does indicate that numbers of Luidia (Table 10) 

 large enough (110 to 160 mm?) to swallow the 

 available scallops (28 to 70 mm length) were more 

 available during March through June. Prelimi- 

 nary observations on L. clathrata kept in the 

 laboratory indicated that they will feed readily on 

 calico scallops, digestion occurring within 24 h. 

 Hulings and Hemlay (1963) found L. clathrata to 

 engulf sediments and utilize whatever was avail- 

 able as food. 



Wells et al. (1961) suggested that A. articulatus 

 was a nonselective feeder, while Porter (1972b) 



TABLE 9. — Average number of calico scallop valves found per 

 month in stomach samples of sea stars A stropecten articulatus 

 and Luidia clathrata sampled in 1972 on the producing calico 

 scallop beds off North Carolina. 



'Approximate number. 



TABLE 10. — Monthly lengths (millimeters) for sea stars cap- 

 tured on the calico scallop beds in 1972. 



TABLE 8. — Lengths (millimeters) of calico scallop valves removed from stomachs of sea stars A stropecten articulatus 

 and Luidia clathrata collected on the calico scallop beds during the 1972 catch season. 



443 



