Snowy Grouper Feeding 
117 
to remain close to the bottom by day, feeds on organisms on the 
bottom and in the water column, forms loose schools, and prefers 
sand instead of rock or mud bottom (Murawski et al. 1977). 
We collected one juvenile red barbier ( Hemanthias vivanus 
Jordan and Swain) (78 mm TL) from a snowy grouper caught 22 
May 1985 in 146-155 m south of Cape Lookout. Parker and Ross 
(1986) reported large, fast-moving schools of juvenile H. vivanus 
(<150 mm TL) at 9 of 10 reef stations viewed from a submersible 
in 51-152 m off the central North Carolina coast. 
Miller and Richards (1980) considered the red barbier an 
important reef indicator species in the South Atlantic Bight at depths 
greater than 55 m. The species has been observed hiding in reef 
crevices (R. S. Jones, Harbor Branch Foundation, Fort Pierce, Florida, 
personal communication). Therefore, schools periodically must be 
close enough to the bottom to be accessible to snowy grouper. The 
sister vessel fishing adjacent to the senior author’s boat recovered 
several small (50-100 mm), reddish-orange serranids believed to be 
this species. At some deep reef areas (>180 m) such as the “Charles- 
ton Bump,” 80 km east of Charleston, South Carolina, the yellow- 
fin bass ( Anthias nicholsi Firth) displaces the red barbier as the 
most abundant small schooling serranid. Based on submersible ob- 
servations during the summers of 1982 - 1983, R. S. Jones noted 
A. nicholsi was the most abundant reef fish. He hypothesized that 
anthiids could be an important grouper prey item, though stomachs 
yielded no food because of eversion (R. S. Jones, Cruise Reports, 
R/V Johnson, Cruise Number J-143 (III), 31 July-10 August 1982; 
Cruise Number J- 158 (VI), 3-19 September 1983). 
A vermilion snapper (305 mm TL) was found in the stomach 
of a snowy grouper (6.8 kg) taken in mid-November 1985 at 146 
m, south of Cape Lookout. The vermilion snapper is one of the 
most common, commercially important schooling fish occurring over 
hard bottom on the mid and outer shelf off North Carolina. It is 
not surprising that small vermilion snapper in deeper water might 
fall prey to snowy grouper as they do in shallow water to speckled 
hind ( E . drummondhayi Goode and Bean), gag (Mycteroperca microlepis 
Goode and Bean), and scamp ( M . phenax Jordan and Swain) (South 
Carolina Wildlife Marine Resource Department 1982 South Carolina 
Wildlife Marine Resource Department and Duke University Marine 
Laboratory 1982). Vermilion snapper were noted by the senior au- 
thor as a snowy grouper prey item on at least one other trip made 
before our study. 
Nonschooling Reef Fishes — A deepbody boarfish ( Antigonia capros 
Lowe) (129 mm TL, intact) was taken from a snowy grouper caught 
