CHRISTENSEN: TROPHIC RELATIONSHIPS OF SPARID FISHES 



1954). Competitive pressure is, therefore, 

 minimized between the five sparid fish species 

 commonly occurring in the littoral zone. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



This study was submitted in partial fulfillment 

 of the requirements for an M.S. degree in the J. L. 

 B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Rhodes Univer- 

 sity, Grahamstown. I thank G. S. Butler, B. J. Hill, 

 P. B. N. Jackson, M. van Harten, and R. Winter- 

 bottom for assistance in the field and/or valuable 

 criticisms. I am also grateful to the following, who 

 identified many of the food items: C. Griffiths (am- 

 phipods) and B. F. Kensley (isopods and 

 brachyurans). University of Cape Town; M. H. 

 Giffen (diatoms). Fort Hare University, Alice; and 

 S. C. Seagrief (algae), Rhodes University, 

 Grahamstown. R. Winterbottom provided useful 

 suggestions and criticisms as my supervisor, and 

 carefully reviewed and commented on the manu- 

 script, as did R. N. Gibson, Dunstaffnage Marine 

 Research Laboratory, Argyll, Scotland, and E. S. 

 Hobson, National Marine Fisheries Service, 

 NCAA, Tiburon, Calif. Their assistance was 

 greatly appreciated as was that of J. Pote who 

 typed the manuscript. Finally, I thank the follow- 

 ing for financial assistance: J. L. B. Smith Insti- 

 tute of Ichthyology (Hugh Le May scholarship), 

 CSIR (research bursary), and Rhodes University 

 (Research Council Grant No. 2857, R. Winterbot- 

 tom principal investigator). 



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