754 
Abstract —We examined stomach 
contents of 385 bonefish that ranged in 
length from 228 to 702 mm FL. Rela- 
tively few prey species made up most 
of the diet by weight — xanthid crabs 
(29.9%), gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta 
( 17.2%), portunid crabs ( 10.9%), alpheid 
shrimp (9.2%), and penaeid shrimp 
(7.7%) together made up 74.9%. A vari- 
ety of gastropods (17 families and 24 
species) and bivalves (9 families and 16 
species) were eaten, but gastropods 
made up only 2.7% of the diet by weight 
and bivalves made up only 2.5%. Poly- 
chaetes, represented by at least seven 
families, were important in the diet nu- 
merically (37.1%) but made up little of 
the diet by weight (1.4%). Cluster 
analysis and ordination of stomach con- 
tents permitted bonefish to be grouped 
according to length. Large bonefish 
(>439 mm FL) ate more xanthid crabs, 
alpheid shrimp, Callinectes spp., and O. 
beta than did small bonefish; penaeid 
shrimp were more important in the diet 
of small bonefish (<440 mm FL). The 
stomach contents of bonefish caught in 
Florida Bay were significantly differ- 
ent from those of bonefish caught on the 
ocean (Florida Straits) side of the 
Florida Keys, but the differences were 
slight and the same prey taxa domi- 
nated the diet in both areas. Xanthid 
crabs, alpheid shrimp, O. beta, penaeid 
shrimp, and Callinectes spp. together 
made up over 50% of the dissimilarity 
in diet of bonefish between the two ar- 
eas. Some seasonal effects on diet were 
found, but variable sample sizes among 
seasons in the respective sampling ar- 
eas made it difficult to detect seasonal 
trends. Bonefish fed selectively on some 
prey groups, but other common prey 
groups were not selected and were less 
common in stomachs than in the prey 
environment. The suite of epibenthic 
crustaceans and fishes found in bone- 
fish stomachs was significantly differ- 
ent from that available as prey in the 
environment. Our results suggest that 
teleosts, mainly O. beta, are more im- 
portant in the diet of bonefish than re- 
ported in previous studies. 
Manuscript accepted 10 March 1998. 
Fish. Bull. 96:754-^66 (1998). 
Feeding habits of bonefish, 
Albula vulpes, from the waters 
of the Florida Keys 
Roy E. Crabtree 
Connie Stevens 
Derke Snodgrass 
Fredrik J. Stengard 
Florida Marine Research Institute, Department of Environmental Protection 
100 Eighth Avenue SE, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-5095 
E-mail address (for R. E. Crabtree): crabtree_r@epic7. dep.state.fi. us 
Bonefish, Albula vulpes, are the 
basis of an economically important 
recreational fishery in the Florida 
Keys and many parts of the Carib- 
bean. In the Florida Keys, fishing 
for bonefish is a year-round activ- 
ity and provides an important 
source of income to professional 
fishing guides. Most bonefish are 
caught in relatively shallow (<2 m) 
water over either seagrass or sandy 
bottom, and it is common for bone- 
fish to forage in water less than 0.3 m 
deep, where their tails and dorsal 
fins can often be seen extending 
from the water as they feed on 
benthic and epibenthic prey. Bone- 
fish are known for their wariness 
when approached in shallow water 
and for their strong fighting abili- 
ties when hooked. In Florida, the 
commercial sale of bonefish is pro- 
hibited, and regulations on the rec- 
reational fishery include a bag limit 
of one fish per angler per day and a 
minimum total length of 457 mm 
(390 mm fork length). Bonefish are 
not considered a food fish in Florida, 
and therefore most bonefish caught 
are released. 
Crabtree et al. (1996, 1997) re- 
cently described the age, growth, 
and reproduction of bonefish from 
South Florida waters and found 
that bonefish can attain ages of 19 
years. In the Florida Keys, 50% of 
male bonefish reach sexual matu- 
rity at 418 mm and an age of 3.6 
years, and 50% of female bonefish 
reach sexual maturity at 488 mm 
FL and an age of 4.2 years. Bonefish 
gonadal activity in the Florida Keys 
is seasonal and spawning occurs 
during November-May. 
Feeding habits of bonefish have 
been studied by Warmke and Erd- 
man (1963) in Puerto Rico, by 
Bruger (1974) in the Florida Keys, 
and by Colton and Alevizon (1983) 
in the Bahamas; however, none of 
these studies have adequately de- 
scribed the diet of bonefish. Warmke 
and Erdman (1963) identified only 
mollusks, Bruger (1974) presented 
frequency of occurrence data for 
crustaceans but did not quantify 
noncrustacean prey, and Colton and 
Alevizon (1983) sorted prey into 10 
broad taxonomic categories but did 
not quantify the abundance of each 
prey species. Consequently, the 
relative importance of each prey 
species in the diet of bonefish is 
unknown. This information is 
needed to evaluate the effects of 
habitat changes on Keys bonefish 
populations and is particularly im- 
portant considering the recent 
seagrass die-offs that have been 
documented in Florida Bay (Rob- 
blee et al., 1991; Carlson et ah, 
1994; Durako, 1994; Butler et al., 
1995; Matheson et al. 1 ). If changes 
in the benthic epifauna and infauna 
