Donohoe: Age, growth, distribution, and food habits of Atractoscion nobilis 
715 
Table 1 
Mean dry weight in micrograms (|ig) and as a percentage of total weight (in parentheses) and frequency of occurrence of prey 
items in stomachs of white seabass caught along the coast. Six fish with empty stomachs were excluded from the analysis. 
n = sample size. 
Length class and 
mean length (mm 
SL) 
6-10 
10-18 
18-25 
25-35 
35-55 
55-150 
Prey category 
(7.9) 
(13.7) 
(21.8) 
(29.1) 
(44.8) 
(79.2) 
Mean Dry Weight in p g and (%) 
Mysids 
46 (75) 
154 (91) 
467 (99) 
1,417 (99) 
2,329 (78) 
8,270 (74) 
Copepods 
10(16) 
2 (1) 
— 
— 
— 
— 
Gammarid amphipods 
— 
7 (4) 
— 
5 (<1) 
11 (<1) 
— 
Fish 
— 
— 
4(1) 
— 
97 (3) 
768 (7) 
Shrimp 
— 
— 
— 
— 
186(6) 
211 (2) 
Nematodes 
— 
— 
— 
— 
6(<1) 
15 (d) 
Macrophytes 
— 
— 
<1 
— 
55 (2) 
647 (6) 
Crustacean parts 
5 (8) 
2 (1) 
— 
5 (<1) 
— 
459 (4) 
Sand 
- 
— 
— 
1 (<1) 
185 (6) 
— 
Unidentified 
— 
5 (3) 
— 
— 
99 (3) 
814 (7) 
Total 
61 
170 
471 
1,428 
2,968 
11,184 
Frequency of occurrence (%) 
Mysids 
78 
91 
100 
96 
100 
100 
Copepods 
11 
5 
— 
— 
— 
— 
Gammarid amphipods 
— 
5 
— 
11 
5 
— 
Fish 
— 
— 
5 
— 
25 
25 
Shrimp 
— 
— 
— 
— 
5 
5 
Nematodes 
— 
— 
— 
— 
5 
10 
Macrophytes 
— 
— 
5 
— 
25 
50 
Crustacean parts 
11 
5 
— 
4 
5 
15 
Sand 
— 
— 
— 
4 
5 
— 
Unidentified 
— 
5 
— 
— 
15 
10 
n 
18 
22 
20 
27 
20 
20 
March to the beginning of September in 
1988 (Fig. 10). In both years, most of the 
young white seabass collected were spawned 
in June. The distribution of spawning dates 
derived from estimated ages agreed closely 
with those based upon direct ageing. 
Discussion 
Spawning season 
Larval and juvenile white seabass collected 
off San Diego County were spawned from 
March to September, with the greatest num- 
ber spawned in June in both years (Fig. 10). 
This seasonal pattern of spawning, inferred 
from counts of otolith increments, agrees 
with previous estimates based on larval 
abundance and adult spawning condition. 
Moser et al. (1983) observed that eggs and 
larvae were most abundant in CalCOFI 
White seabass dry weight (g) 
Figure 6 
Relation between white seabass dry weight and mean dry weight of 
mysids (total weight of mysids plus total number of mysids) in the 
stomachs of 111 white seabass. 
