Florida pompano, continued 



(Finucane 1 969b). Eggs incubated at 23°-25°C under 

 laboratory conditions reached blastula stage 10-12 

 hours after fertilization; mid to late gastrulation re- 

 quired 20-22 hours. Eggs did not survive past that 

 stage (Finucane 1969b). 



Age and Size of Larvae : In the month it takes larvae to 

 reach coastal beaches after being spawned, larvae 

 increase in size from 3 to 1 2 mm SL or longer (Finucane 

 1969a). 



Juvenile Size Range : The juvenile stage begins when 

 fish reach a standard length (SL) of about 7.0 mm and 

 larger. At 7.0 mm SL dorsal and anal spines are 

 prominent and soft rays evident. At 150 mm SL, all but 

 dentary teeth disappear; and by about 1 70 mm SL the 

 dentary teeth are not evident (Fields 1962). Daily 

 growth rates range from 0.5 mm/day for fish in the surf 

 zone to 1.3 mm/day for hatchery reared specimens 

 (Bellinger and Avault 1970, Johnson 1978). Rates of 

 25 to 42 mm for monthly growth under optimal condi- 

 tions has been noted with 255 to 356 mm TL possible 

 for first year growth (Finucane 1 968, 1 969a, Moe et al. 

 1968, Bellinger and Avault 1970). A weight gain of 18 

 g/month was reported for hatchery reared fish and 

 weights of 454 to 567 g were considered possible as a 

 first year weight for fish in mariculture (Finucane 1 968, 

 1969b). 



Age and Size of Adults : Wild fish probably first spawn 

 in their second year, but in hatchery culture it may be 

 possible to spawn them in less than 2 years (Finucane 

 1 968, Moe et al. 1 968). Ripe fish taken in Florida were 

 275 to 380 mm TL and weighed 456 to 1 1 40 g (Finucane 

 1 968). Other Florida studies reported ripe females with 

 fork lengths (FL) of 255 and 356 mm, and females with 

 developing oocytes were 273 to 400 mm FL and 

 weighed 468 to 596 g. Ripe males were collected with 

 a length range of 225 to 230 mm FL (Finucane 1968, 

 1969a, Moeetal. 1968). The maximum size forthisfish 

 is about 450 mm TL (Hoese and Moore 1 977). Florida 

 pompano probably live 3 or 4 years under natural 

 conditions (Berry and Iversen 1967). 



Food and Feeding 



Trophic Mode : Florida pompano are a generalized 

 carnivore that feed primarily during the day on infaunal 

 bottom bivalves (Finucane 1 969a, Bellinger and Avault 

 1971, Armitage and Alevizon 1980, Benson 1982). 

 Adults have large, well developed pharyngeal plates 

 which allow them to feed on hard-shelled prey items 

 such as bivalves and crabs (Bellinger and Avault 

 1971). Smaller pompano are opportunistic feeders, 

 apparently preying on those organisms that are most 

 available at the time and utilizing the surf to help 

 uncover food. As juvenile pompano grow in size, they 

 undergo a shift towards hard-shelled prey items 



(Bellinger and Avault 1971). 



Food Items : Smallest size classes feed primarily on 

 benthic and pelagic invertebrates, frequently eating 

 polychaetes, amphipods, gastropod larvae, insects, 

 and some calanoid copepods. The frequency of these 

 items decrease as the fish grows (Hildebrand and 

 Schroeder 1928, Berry and Iversen 1967, Bellinger 

 and Avault 1 971 ). Fish 1 to 25 mm TL were found to 

 have eaten polychaetes, amphipods, gastropod lar- 

 vae, mysids, brachuran megalops, and dipteran lar- 

 vae. When 26 to 50 mm TL they ate fewer polychaetes 

 and amphipods, and ate a wider variety of organisms, 

 but still fed heavily on gastropod larvae, post larval 

 shrimp, clams, and brachuran megalops. Fish 76 to 

 125 mm TL fed most frequently on small clams espe- 

 cially Donax variablis and Hippa species. Larger 

 juveniles have also been reported to feed on crab 

 larvae, barnacles, cumacea, and fish eggs and larvae 

 (Springer and Woodburn 1960, Fields 1962, McFarland 

 1963, Berry and Iversen 1967, Finucane 1969a, 

 Bellinger and Avault 1971, Modde and Ross 1981). 

 Prey of fish 200 to 275 mm SL were primarily bivalves 

 such as Tellina, Donax variablis, and Brachiodon 

 exustus (Finucane 1 968, Armitage and Alevizon 1 980). 

 Although not major prey items, larger pompano have 

 been reported to eat shrimp, crabs, and fish (Gunter 

 1945, Gunter 1958, Miles 1949). 



Biological Interactions 



Predation : No studies have identified Florida pompano 

 as a regular item in the diet of other fishes or higher 

 vertebrates (Gilbert 1986). Juveniles are probably 

 preyed on by larger fish and birds that forage along the 

 beaches. 



Factors Influencing Populations : Several parasites have 

 been reported for this species including protozoans, 

 nematodes encysted in the viscera or in the body 

 cavity, cestodes encysted in mesentary and on vis- 

 cera, trematodes, isopods in the mouth, gill area, and 

 various body parts and fins, and copepods on the skin 

 (Linton 1904, Finucane 1968). However, infestations 

 do not appear to be heavy, and there is no evidence 

 that parasites or diseases are a threat to this species in 

 its natural habitat (Gilbert 1986). 



References 



Armitage, T.M., and W.S. Alevizon. 1980. The diet of 

 the Florida pompano (Trachinotus carolinus) along the 

 east coast of central Florida. Fla. Sci. 43(1): 19-26. 



Arnold, E.L., Jr., R.S. Wheeler, and K.N. Baxter. 1 960. 

 Observations on fishes and other biota of East Lagoon, 

 Galveston Island. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., Spec. Sci. 

 Rep. Fish. No. 344, 30 p. 



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