Food Habit Study of Striped Bass Post Yolk-Sac Larvae

摘要

Striped bass post yolk-sac larvae and zooplankton were sampled simultaneously during May, 1977 at three locations near the mouth of the Sassafras River in Upper Chesapeake Bay. Diel variations in post-larval stomach content volume during five 24-hour studies on consecutive weeks revealed twilight feeding peaks. Combined laboratory and field data were used to determine the daily ration sizes. Laboratory determined feeding rates indicated that the daily ration could be obtained in approximately one hour of feeding at zooplankton concentrations of 5000/liter. Maximum experimental prey densities, however, were as much as two orders of magnitude greater than those observed in the field.