FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 75, NO. 4 



slightly rounded to truncate tail (Figure 28C). 

 These features, together with its terminal mouth 

 and relatively large eyes (Figure 20C, C; Table 5), 

 indicate that B. chrysoura is a moderately fast 

 swimmer that feeds in the middle water column by 

 sight. Young Micropogonias undulatus have an 

 elongate and less compressed body and a long 

 pointed tail (Figure 28D). These features, com- 

 bined with an inferior mouth with barbels and 

 relatively smaller eyes (Figure 20D, D'; Table 5), 

 indicate that M. undulatus is a moderately fast 

 swimmer that feeds in the lower water column by 

 sight, olfaction, and touch. Young Leiostomus 

 xanthurus have a rather short and deep body, and 

 a broad and truncate tail (Figure 28F). These fea- 

 tures, combined with an inferior mouth and large 

 eyes (Figure 20F, F'; Table 5), indicate that L. 

 xanthurus is a slow swimmer that feeds in the 

 lower water column by sight and olfaction. Young 

 Menticirrhus saxatilis have an elongate, round, 

 and narrow body, and a relatively pointed tail 

 (Figure 28E). These features, combined with an 

 inferior mouth with a pored-barbel (Figure 26e) 

 and relatively smaller eyes (Figure 20E, E '; Table 

 5), indicate that M. saxatilis is a slow swimmer 

 that feeds in the lower water column by olfaction 

 and touch. 



The cross sections of these young sciaenid fishes 

 (Figure 28) also reflect their habitat. Larimus fas- 

 ciatus, C. regalis, and B. chrysoura are compressed 

 and have relatively narrow ventral surfaces (Fig- 

 ure 28A-C) in comparison to Micropogonias un- 

 dulatus, Leiostomus xanthurus, and Menticirrhus 

 saxatilis (Figure 27D-F). Some of these mor- 

 phological characters, such as the shape of the 

 tails and the size of the eyes, vary ontogenetically. 

 Generally, most juvenile sciaenids have pointed 

 tails and relatively larger eyes than adults. 



Food Specialization 



The food habits of young sciaenids have been 

 studied by numerous authors and the information 

 reported by them is scattered and presented in 

 different ways. Some of this work has been sum- 

 marized for comparison with the present study 

 (Tables 10-14). Only those studies having some 

 sort of quantitative analysis were chosen for the 

 comparison. Different authors have used different 

 taxonomic categories to analyze their informa- 

 tion. The classification of the food items in the 

 present study has been modified from Darnell 

 (1961) and Qasim (1972). Six major food groups 



were employed more or less according to their ver- 

 tical occurrence in the water column, from the 

 upper water column to the bottom. They were 

 fishes, macrozooplankton, microzooplankton, 

 epibenthos, infauna, and other organic matter. 

 Within each food group, several items were listed 

 and the generic and specific names of the primary 

 prey species in the study area were indicated. 

 Boundaries for these six food groups are not 

 definite because some prey taxa move vertically in 

 the water column and some taxa may also include 

 both pelagic and benthic species. Generalized 

 terms used by many authors such as shrimps, an- 

 nelids, mollusks, crabs, etc., were placed under 

 respective food groups for the convenience of com- 

 parison. Food habits of each species were com- 

 pared with previous studies from different geo- 

 graphic areas and seasons. Food items were listed 

 in different categories for each species. Under each 

 listed item, there were cases where more than a 

 single food taxon was listed by the original au- 

 thors. Then, the one that had the highest fre- 

 quency (by occurrence, volume, or weight) was 

 chosen to represent that item. 



All fish specimens used for stomach analyses in 

 this study were randomly selected from specimens 

 collected in June to November (1972 to 1974). Dur- 

 ing this period, these sciaenids reach their 

 maximum abundance and degree of sympatry. All 

 specimens were young-of-the-year or yearlings. 



Larimus fasciatus 



Stomachs of 12 L. fasciatus (14-125 mm TL) 

 were examined. All stomachs contained crusta- 

 ceans, exclusively: Neomysis americana in seven 

 stomachs, Cumacea in five, Amphipoda (mostly 

 Gammarus spp.) in four, and calanoid copepoda 

 (mostly Acartia tonsa) in two. Most of these prey 

 species were of small size. 



Published information on the food habits of L. 

 fasciatus was scarce. Welsh and Breder (1923) re- 

 ported on food of fourL. fasciatus (50-110 mm SL) 

 from Mississippi and Texas. Only two stomachs 

 had food, one with a post-larval clupeoid and the 

 other with "schizopodous forms" (crustacean re- 

 mains). 



Cynoscion regalis 



Stomachs of 36 C. regalis (67-183 mm TL) were 

 examined (Table 10). They fed mostly on Anchoa 

 mitchilli and N. americana. Anchoa mitchilli was 

 very abundant in the same area as C. regalis in the 



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