Crabtree et al.: Feeding habits of Albula vulpes 
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Total length (mm) 
Total length (mm) 
Carapace width (mm) 
Standard length (mm) 
Carapace width (mm) 
Figure 3 
Size-frequency distributions of some prey important in the diet of bonefish, Albula vulpes. 
bonefish. In contrast, O. beta was the teleost most 
frequently eaten by the bonefish we examined 
(F= 29.1%). Most of Bruger’s bonefish were collected 
in the lower Keys between Marathon and Key West, 
but most of our bonefish were captured in the upper 
Keys from Marathon north to Key Biscayne and in- 
cluding Florida Bay. Although we have no data on 
prey availability in the lower Keys, habitat differ- 
ences between the two study areas could account for 
some of the differences between our results and 
Bruger’s. 
Colton and Alevizon ( 1983) examined the stomach 
contents of 365 Bahamian bonefish ranging from 268 
to 652 mm FL (reported as 256 to 630 mm SL). 
Bivalves made up 39.2% of the diet of Bahamian bone- 
fish by dry weight, but they made up only 2.5% of 
the diet of Keys bonefish by weight. Bivalves were 
the most important prey of Bahamian bonefish both 
in terms of dry weight (39.2%) and frequency of oc- 
currence (66.3%); portunid (W=20.1%; F=40.5%) and 
xanthid crabs ( W=15.0%; F=24.8%) were also impor- 
tant. Teleosts (O. beta and Bathygobius soporator ; 
pooled W=4.9%), alpheid shrimp ( W=4.6%), Pseudos- 
quilla ciliata (W=3.2%), polychaetes (W=3.2%), gas- 
tropods ( W=2.4%), and Penaeus duorarum ( W=1.6%) 
occurred in 15-25% of the guts that Colton and 
Alevizon examined but made up little of the diet in 
terms of dry weight. The most notable difference 
between Keys and Bahamian bonefish diets was the 
greater importance of O. beta in the diet of Keys bon- 
efish ( W=17.2%). 
Colton and Alevizon ( 1983 ) reported length-related 
changes in the diet of Bahamian bonefish that were 
similar to those that we observed in the Florida Keys. 
They found that bonefish larger than 416 mm FL 
(400 mm SL) ate more xanthid and majid crabs, 
alpheid shrimp, and teleosts than smaller bonefish 
did. Teleosts (gobiids, batrachoidids, ophichthids, and 
small lutjanids) were found principally in stomachs 
from bonefish larger than 575 mm FL (555 mm SL). 
In contrast to our conclusions, Colton and Alevizon 
( 1983 ) found that small bonefish (<416 mm ) ate more 
portunid crabs (Callinectes ornatus ) than large bone- 
fish did; we found no Callinectes spp. in any bone- 
