174 
Abstract — -The migratory population 
of striped bass ( Morone saxatilis ) 
(>400 mm total length [TL]) spends 
winter in the Atlantic Ocean off the 
Virginia and North Carolina coasts of 
the United States. Information on tro- 
phic dynamics for these large adults 
during winter is limited. Feeding 
habits and prey were described from 
stomach contents of 1154 striped bass 
ranging from 373 to 1250 mm TL, 
collected from trawls during winters 
of 1994-96, 2000, and 2002-03, and 
from the recreational fishery during 
2005-07. Nineteen prey species were 
present in the diet. Overall, Atlan- 
tic menhaden ( Brevoortia tyrannus) 
and bay anchovy ( Anchoa mitchilli) 
dominated the diet by biomass (67.9%) 
and numerically (68.6%). The per- 
cent biomass of Atlantic menhaden 
consumed increased from 50.3% 
during 1994-2003 to 87.0% during 
2005-07. Demersal fish species such 
as Atlantic croaker ( Micropogonias 
undulatus) and spot ( Leiostomus xan- 
thurus) represented <15% of the diet 
biomass, whereas alosines (Alosa spp.) 
were rarely observed. Invertebrates 
were least important, contributing 
<1.0% by biomass and numerically. 
Striped bass are capable of feeding 
on a wide range of prey sizes (2% to 
43% of their total length). This study 
outlines the importance of clupeoid 
fishes to striped bass winter produc- 
tion and also shows that predation 
may be exerting pressure on one of 
their dominant prey, the Atlantic 
menhaden. 
Manuscript submitted 3 December 2007. 
Manuscript accepted 6 February 2008. 
Fish. Bull. 106:174-182 (2008). 
The views and opinions expressed or 
implied in this article are those of the 
author and do not necessarily reflect 
the position of the National Marine 
Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
Interactions between adult migratory 
striped bass ( Morone saxatilis) and their prey 
during winter off the Virginia and North Carolina 
Atlantic coast from 1994 through 2007 
Anthony S. Overton (contact author) 
Department of Biology-Howell Science Complex 
Harriot College of Arts and Science 
East Carolina University 
Greenville, North Carolina 27858 
Email address: overtona@ecu.edu 
Charles S. Manooch III 
2900 Dogwood Lane 
Morehead City 
North Carolina 28557 
Joseph W. Smith 
Kenneth Brennan 
Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research 
National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 
101 Pivers Island Road 
Beaufort, North Carolina 28516 
Striped bass ( Morone saxatilis) has 
a well documented history along the 
U.S. east coast, from its dramatic 
population declines during the 1980s 
to its subsequent recovery by the early 
1990s (Field, 1997; Richards and 
Rago, 1999). Successful management 
efforts have resulted in a greater than 
tenfold increase in striped bass abun- 
dance between the 1980s and 1990s 
and a subsequent increase in popu- 
lation-level prey consumption (Hart- 
man, 2003), and therefore a concern 
for coastal populations of prey spe- 
cies (Hartman, 2003; Overton, 2003; 
Uphoff, 2003). Under current man- 
agement regimes, it may be difficult 
to maintain high population levels of 
striped bass and their prey (Hartman, 
2003; Uphoff, 2003). 
Typically, striped bass along the 
U.S. east coast spend their first years 
maturing in their natal estuaries and 
then emigrate to the Atlantic Ocean. 
Most striped bass along the Atlan- 
tic coast migrate northward during 
spring and summer to waters off the 
northeast coast of the U.S. During 
fall and winter, they return south to 
overwinter off the coasts of Virginia 
and North Carolina (Boreman and 
Lewis, 1997). These migratory fish 
are generally large (>500 total length 
[TL] mm) and feed prodigiously dur- 
ing their migrations. Theoretically, 
these large piscivores are capable 
of structuring prey fish populations 
through predation and prey selection 
(Bax, 1998; Harvey et al., 2003), and 
in turn they can potentially influence 
the recruitment success of prey spe- 
cies. Predators such as striped bass 
are capable of consuming prey that 
are a wide range of sizes (Hartman, 
2000); therefore to understand tro- 
phic relationships it is important to 
examine their dietary habits. Multi- 
species fisheries and ecosystem man- 
agement approaches require dietary 
information for upper-level predators 
such as striped bass (Latour et al., 
2003). 
The literature on diets and feeding 
habits of striped bass (see Walter et 
al., 2003) is voluminous. However, 
information on feeding habits during 
