FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 82, NO. 3 



few taxa. Of the many transient marine species 

 ( Weinstein 1979; Weinstein et al. 1980) that utilize 

 marsh creeks along the Atlantic coast, only the 

 spot, Leiostomus xanthurus, seemed to actively 

 select this habitat. Within creeks there also was 

 an apparent upstream limit in abundance of this 

 species at low salinities. Although not captured 

 quantitatively in this study, Atlantic menhaden, 

 Brevortia tyrannus, were often observed in large 

 numbers in the creeks, especially upstream. Other 

 species, particularly Atlantic croaker, weakfish, 

 and hogchoker were captured in greater numbers 

 in low salinity shoal waters (<5 m) adjacent to 

 marshes. Compared with the polyhaline marshes 

 and shoals, stations sampled upstream in oligo- 

 mesohaline waters were more diverse and had a 

 larger variety of taxa apparently utilizing this 

 area as a primary nursery habitat. In addition to 

 the species mentioned above, white perch; striped 

 bass, Morone saxatilis; and white catfish were sea- 

 sonally present as young-of-year in the area. 



Dietary composition of the six species examined 

 in detail reflected that of trophic opportunism, 

 with maximum dietary diversity displayed by 

 spot. Ontogenetic progressions in diet also were 

 observed in all species. Two species, summer 

 flounder and white catfish, were piscivorous at 

 larger sizes, feeding mainly on Anchoa spp. The 

 apparent absence of specialization in any of these 

 predators may reflect the general adequacy of food 

 supplies in the primary nurseries. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We thank K. Anderson, H. Brooks, and S. Webb 

 for their aid in the field and laboratory and T 

 Fredette and R. Diaz for giving freely of their time 

 in helping us identify difficult food items. Any 

 errors in their identification, however, are solely 

 our responsibility. All drafts of the manuscript 

 were typed by G. Dunaway. We also wish to express 

 our gratitude to R. Anderson for providing several 

 computer programs for our use. This study was 

 funded by EPA Grant #R808707 to Michael 

 Weinstein. 



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