Food and Feeding Behavior of Adult Snowy Grouper, 
Epinephelus niveatus (Valenciennes) (Pisces: Serranidae), 
Collected off the Central North Carolina Coast with 
Ecological Notes on Major Food Groups 
Jon Dodrill 
Florida Department of Natural Resources 
Division of Recreation and Parks 
District 2, Administration 
3540-A Thomasville Road 
Tallahassee, Florida 32308 
Charles S. Manooch III and Ann Bowman Manooch 
National Marine Fisheries Service 
Southeast Fisheries Science Center 
Beaufort Laboratory 
1 01 Fivers Island Road 
Beaufort, North Carolina 28516-9722 
ABSTRACT — Food items from snowy grouper ( Epinephelus niveatus ) 
(Valenciennes) were collected on 30 commercial handline fishing 
trips off central North Carolina from March 1985 through April 
1986 in waters 146-228-m deep. More than 5,000 snowy grouper 
stomachs were examined, but fewer than 5% contained food. Em- 
bolism prevented the frequent extraction of intact digestive tracts. 
Snowy grouper fed on crustaceans (72% by volume), fish (18%), 
and mollusks (10%). Crabs, primarily Portunus spinicarpus 
(Stimpson), accounted for approximately 90% of the food items 
and 72% of the volume. Most foods were inhabitants of bottom 
or near-bottom waters and were small enough to be swallowed 
whole. Ecological notes are included on major food groups. 
Competition for food between E. niveatus and other serranids is 
believed to be minimal because only a few other groupers were 
caught. Of the other groupers, the yellowedge grouper ( E . 
flavolimbatus Poey) contained foods most similar to those con- 
sumed by snowy grouper. Compared with other sympatric species, 
E. niveatus fed on foods most similar to red porgy ( Pagrus 
pagrus). 
Reef fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages on the outer 
continental shelf edge and upper slope of central North Carolina at 
depths between 140 and 240 m have received little scientific atten- 
tion. This is in spite of steadily increasing commercial hook-and- 
line activity in that depth range throughout the Carolinas since 1979 
Brimleyana 19:101-135, December 1993 
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