FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 75, NO. 4 



TABLE ll. — Stomach contents of silver perch, Bairdiella chrysoura, from different estuarine areas along U.S. 



Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. 



Author 

 Locality 

 Period 

 Source 



Chao 1976 

 York River, Va. 

 June-Aug. 1973 

 Original 



Thomas 1971 

 Delaware River, Del. 

 Aug.-Oct. 1969 

 Table 46 



Number of specimens 

 Empty stomachs 

 Length of specimens 

 Quantitative method 



68 



10 



57-153 mm TL 



% of occurrence 



99 

 9 

 5-130 mm TL 

 % of occurrence 



Number of specimens 

 Empty stomachs 

 Length of specimens 

 Quantitative method 



161 

 48 

 30-149 mm TL 

 % of occurrence 



45 6 







25-99 mm SL 100-130 mm SL 

 % of occurrence 



Fishes: 



Anchoa mitchilli 



Others and remains 

 Macrozooplankton: 



Mysidace 



Neomysis americana 



Isopoda 



Decapoda (shrimp) 



Others and remains 

 Microzooplankton 



Copepoda 



Others and remains 

 Epibenthos: 



Annelida (polychaete) 



Neris succinea 



Amphipoda 



Gammarus sp. 



Crabs 

 Others and remains 

 Unidentified remains 



2.7 

 6.6 



0.6 

 25.1 

 1.1 

 5.5 

 8.2 



3.9 

 2.2 



0.6 

 8.2 

 2.2 

 6.0 

 8.2 

 0.6 



4.4 



73.3 

 4.4 



4.0 



2.2 

 33.3 



6.6 



16.6 



33.3 

 666 



16.6 

 16.6 



'All fishes combined. 



and crustaceans were the main food items of the 

 juvenile M. undulatus in the study area. Juvenile 

 M. undulatus fed on a large variety of inverte- 

 brates and sometimes fishes (Table 12). Stickney 

 et al. (1975) indicated that smaller specimens 

 ( <100 mm SL) depend extensively on harpacticoid 

 copepods, which are mainly bottom dwellers. As 

 the fish grow, they become more generalized feed- 

 ers (Parker 1971). Geographic variation in food 

 habits of juvenile M. undulatus (Table 12) proba- 

 bly is attributable to availability of prey species in 

 the area. 



Menticirrhus saxatilis 



Stomachs of 20 M. saxatilis (36.5-118 mm TL) 

 were examined. All contained crustaceans and 



Welsh and Breder 1923 

 Cape Charles, Va. 

 Sept. 1916 

 p 174-175 



21 

 

 6-8.2 cm TL 

 % of occurrence 



5 

 87 



2 

 5 



Carr and Adams 1973 

 Crystal River, Fla. 



Oct. 1970-Aug. 1971 

 Estimate from Fig. 9 



195 

 43 

 5-130 mm TL 

 % of occurrence 



31.2 



51.6 



7.3 

 9.2 



polychaetes were also important in their diet. The 

 occurrence of organic detritus was also frequent 

 suggesting that M. saxatilis is a bottom feeder. 

 The literature also indicates that juvenile M. 

 saxatilis feed mainly on crustaceans and 

 polychaetes (Table 13). Welsh and Breder (1923) 

 indicated that M. saxatilis fed mainly on rela- 

 tively large crustaceans. 



Leiostotnus xanthurus 



Stomachs of 77 L. xanthurus (73-205 mm TL) 

 were examined. Although they showed a wide va- 

 riety of food species, the major part of the food was 

 benthic. Pectinaria gouldii, a burrowing 

 polychaete, was a major food item in the diet of L. 

 xanthurus in the study area. Stickney et al. (1975) 



692 



