III-E-25 



Peters, D.S., and M.A. Kjelson. 1975. Consumption and utilization of food 



by various postlarval and juvenile fishes of North Carolina estuaries. 



Pages 448-472 jn^L.E. Cronin, ed., Estuarine research, Vol. 1. Academic 



Press, New York. 



Production studies described in this paper are limited to determining 

 diet composition, calculating food consumption rate, and describing 

 environmental effects on the use of food for growth. Major problems in 

 such studies include identifying food items in the gut and estimating 

 their relative composition by weight or volume. Moderate-sized items can 

 be identified to genus and species, provided adequate collections of 

 local flora and fauna are available, but small, partially digested items 

 may be impossible to identify. Organic detritus, a complex food resource 

 consumed by many estuarine fish, is also difficult to identify and measure. 



Detritus identification includes differentiating zooplankton, phytoplankton, 

 and detritus, determining detrital origin, and differentiating between 

 organic and inorganic material. The living microbial component, often 

 coupled with nonliving detritus, is also difficult to identify and measure. 



To evaluate the nature of food consumed by fish in the Newport River 

 estuary, the authors examined stomach contents of juvenile pinfish, 

 spot, and menhaden, three of the most abundant species present. Although 

 samples were collected on different days at a variety of locations, there 

 was little variation within species in the percent of animal, plant, 

 and detrital material in the guts. Investigations s+iowed that spot and 

 pinfish ingested nearly the same percentages of animal, plant, and detrital 

 particles and that the main food was animal particles. The main food of 

 menhaden was detritus of unidentified origin, some of which may have been 

 recently fragmented microalgae or protozoans. (B.W.) 



Keywords: estuaries, fishes, food ecology, detritus, food habits. 

 North Carolina 



III-E-26 



De Sylva, D.P. 1975. Nektonic food webs in estuaries. Pages 420-447 i_n 

 L.E. Cronin, ed., Estuarine research. Vol. 1. Academic Press, New York. 



Estuarine nekton includes primarily fishes, such as bluefish, jacks, 

 "ladyfish, menhaden, shad, mullet, salmon, snooks, striped bass, and 

 tarpon. Squids, scallops, and natant crustaceans, including crabs, 

 lobsters, and shrimp, have been considered as being nektonic in estuaries 

 for short periods. 



This article presents a summary of the literature on food studies. 

 Thirty-six of seventy-six references examined discuss some aspect of 



137 



