102 
John Dodrill et al. 
(Low and Ulrich 1983). At these depths energy flow, trophic struc- 
ture, species competition for space and food, and the extent of 
substrate use by deep reef associated predators remain poorly known 
(Duke University Marine Laboratory 1982). 
The snowy grouper, a tertiary predator, is the dominant 
grouper at depths greater than 140 m off the Carolinas (Low and 
Ulrich 1983, Chester et al. 1984). In 1984 the snowy grouper was 
by mass the most important reef fish caught commercially along 
the central North Carolina coast (eastern Onslow and Raleigh bays) 
(Epperly and Rhode 1985). That year an estimated 34,771 E. niveatus 
totaling 162,112 kg were harvested statewide. The species repre- 
sented 14.0% by mass of all reef species commercially caught by 
bottom longline, handline, and fish traps. 
Adult snow grouper are consistently found in deeper water, 
whereas juveniles dominate the shallow end of the depth range. In 
part this may reflect years of intensive fishing pressure in 40-120- 
m intermediate depths and only relatively recent pressure beyond 
183 m off central North Carolina where the largest adults were 
encountered. The shift toward larger grouper with increasing depth, 
which has been noted by Low and Ulrich (1983) in South Carolina 
and by Moore and Labisky (1984) in the lower Florida Keys, might 
also indicate movement of grouper into deeper water with the onset 
of maturity. 
Inaccessibility of adult snowy grouper at depths beyond 140 
m has restricted life history data collection in the South Atlantic 
Bight to limited exploratory cruise data or materials available from 
dock-side sampling (Low and Ulrich 1983, Matheson and Huntsman 
1984, Epperly and Rhode 1985). Typical of other biological aspects 
of E. niveatus, little is known of its feeding habits. From 1972 to 
1981 the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Beaufort, North 
Carolina, attempted to collect snowy grouper stomach samples 
from recreational headboats operating between Cape Hatteras and 
Cape Romain and from research vessels (Matheson 1981; G. Hunts- 
man, National Marine Fisheries Service, Beaufort, personal com- 
munication). In a live bottom study conducted on the outer conti- 
nental shelf off North Carolina for the Minerals Management Ser- 
vice, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Duke University Marine 
Laboratory (1982) also collected snowy grouper food items, as did 
the South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Department (1982) 
in a similar BLM study off South Carolina and Georgia. 
Results of all three efforts were discouraging. Of hundreds of 
grouper stomach examined by NMFS (R. Matheson III, Apex High 
School, Apex, North Carolina, personal communication) only 131 
