317 
NOAA 
National Marine 
Fisheries Service 
Fishery Bulletin 
established 1881 
Spencer F. Baird 
First U.S. Commissioner 
of Fisheries and founder 
of Fishery Bulletin 
Feeding habits of 2 reef-associated fishes, 
red porgy iPagrm pagrus} and gray triggerfish 
iBatistes capriscmX off the southeastern 
United States 
Email address for contact author: sarahfgoldman@gmaii.com 
Abstract — -The feeding habits of red 
porgy {Pagrus pagrus) and gray trig- 
gerfish (Balistes capriscus) were in- 
vestigated by examining the gut con- 
tents of specimens collected during 
2009-2011 from live bottom habitats 
off the southeastern United States. 
Red porgy had a diverse diet of 188 
different taxa. Decapods, barnacles, 
and bivalves were their main prey. 
Canonical correlation analysis indi- 
cated that depth, season, and fish 
length were statistically significant 
factors determining the degree of 
variability in the diet of red porgy. 
Gray triggerfish also had a diverse 
diet, composed of 131 different prey 
taxa. Barnacles, gastropods, and 
decapods were their main prey. Of 
the 4 explanatory variables, latitude 
was highly significant, and season, 
depth, and length were statistically 
significant. Red porgy and gray trig- 
gerfish were observed to have a gen- 
eralized feeding strategy of feeding 
opportunistically on a wide range of 
prey. This study contains fundamen- 
tal trophic data on 2 important fish- 
ery species in the southeastern Unit- 
ed States. Most importantly, it pro- 
vides fisheries managers with some 
of the data necessary for the imple- 
mentation of an ecosystem-based ap- 
proach to fisheries management. 
Manuscript submitted 23 April 2015. 
Manuscript accepted 6 May 2016. 
Fish. Bull. 114:317-329 (2016). 
Online publication date: 26 May 2016. 
doi: 10.7755/FB.114.3.5 
The views and opinions expressed or 
implied in this article are those of the 
author (or authors) and do not necessarily 
reflect the position of the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
Sarah F. Goldman (contact author) 
Dawn M. Glasgow 
Michelle M. Falk 
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources 
P.O. Box 12559 
Charleston, South Carolina 29422-2559 
There have been numerous calls and 
mandates to adopt an ecosystem- 
based approach to fisheries manage- 
ment (Link, 2002; Latour et ah, 2003; 
NMFS, 2009). An ecosystem-based 
approach to fisheries management 
requires extensive knowledge of the 
dynamics of the ecosystem in ques- 
tion, the trophic ecology of individual 
species, and the food web as a whole 
(Byron and Link, 2010), as well as 
information on environmental and 
biological and economic factors. As 
fisheries managers move toward an 
ecosystem-based approach to man- 
agement, the data inputs for ecosys- 
tem models, including diet informa- 
tion, must be acquired (Link et ah, 
2008; NMFS, 2009; SAFMCi). These 
models require long-term monitoring 
of the food web and information on 
species interactions — data that are 
lacking for most species in the south- 
eastern United States (SAFMC^). 
Red porgy {Pagrus pagrus) and 
gray triggerfish {Balistes capriscus) 
support commercial and recreational 
' SAFMC (South Atlantic Fishery Man- 
agement Council). 2009. Fishery eco- 
system plan of the South Atlantic region. 
Volume V: South Atlantic research pro- 
grams and data needs, 177 p. SAFMC, 
North Charleston, SC. [Available at 
website.] 
fisheries along the entire southeast- 
ern U.S. Atlantic continental shelf, 
often referred to as the South Atlan- 
tic Bight (SAB) (Bearden and McK- 
enzie^; Manooch, 1977; Antoni et ah, 
2011), and both species are in the 
snapper grouper complex managed 
by the South Atlantic Fisheries Man- 
agement Council. Much of the fishery- 
independent data used by managers 
for the snapper grouper complex are 
provided by the Marine Resources 
Monitoring, Assessment, and Predic- 
tion program, which is a coopera- 
tive, long-term, fishery-independent 
monitoring survey. A recent report 
on analysis of data from this survey 
program revealed that red porgy and 
gray triggerfish were the third and 
fifth most commonly caught species 
in chevron traps used in this survey, 
respectively (MARMAP^). 
2 Bearden, C. M., and M. D. McKenzie. 
1969. An investigation of the offshore 
demersal fish resources of South Caroli- 
na. South Carolina Wildl. Resour. Dep., 
Tech. Rep. 2, 19 p. [Available at web- 
site.] 
3 MARMAP (Marine Resources Moni- 
toring, Assessment, and Prediction). 
2014. Semi-annual progress report. 
[Project report for the period 1 May-31 
October 2014. Available from MAR- 
MAP, South Carolina Dep. Nat. Resour., 
217 Fort Johnson Rd, (Charleston, SC 
29412.] 
