Feeding of Sciaenid (Pisces: Sciaenidae) Larvae in Two Coastal Lagoons of the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Stomach contents analyses showed that Leiostomus xanthurus (8.50-12.90 mm SL) had a wide trophic spectrum (15 food categories) with copepods and eggs of invertebrates as main components. In contrast, Micropogonias undulatus (6.65-12.20 mm SL) ingested only six food categories (copepods, eggs of invertebrates, crustacean nauplii, barnacle nauplii, amphipods and other crustaceans). There is an overlap of 73.2 to 83.0% in the diet of these two species. Bairdiella chrysoura (1.17-1.92 mm SL) fed primarily on juvenile pelecypods, crustacean nauplii, eggs of invertebrates, including gasteropods and copepods. Cynoscion nebulosus (1.50-2.42 mm SL) ingested juvenile pelecypods, copepods, crustacean nauplii, eggs of invertebrates and tintinnids, variability in overlap (47.4 to 79.5%) between these species was affected by size of the larvae.