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Table 15. Summary of other weakfish diet studies for the
coastal Middle Atlantic Bight. (Major prey taxa ranked in relative order
of importance by: mean percent frequency of occurrence (FO), mean percent
contribution to total stomach content volume (TV), and mean percent contribution
to total stomach content weight (TW), as available from each source.) |
Source |
Study Area |
Year(s)
(month(s), season(s),
and/or frequency) |
No. Examined
(size [TL cm]) or
age range, mean size) |
Primary Prey in Order of Importance
by FO, IRI, TDW, TN, TV, and/or TW |
Welsh and Breder (1924) |
Acushnet River, MA |
1882 (Sep) |
28 (7-11) |
TV -- Fish (killifish and river herring) and
"shrimp." |
Peck (1896) |
Woods Hole, MA |
1893 (summer) |
570 ("older fish") |
FO -- Juvenile herring and bluefish, butterfish,
herring, squid, crustaceans, and juvenile Atlantic menhaden. |
Welsh and Breder (1924) |
Cape May, NJ |
1916 (Aug) |
32 (3-8)
|
TV -- Mysids, "shrimp," unidentified crustaceans,
and juvenile herring. |
1919 (May) |
30 (24-39) |
TV -- Mysids, unidentified crustaceans, and
"shrimp." |
Welsh and Breder (1924) |
Cape Charles, VA |
1916 (Sep) |
45 (4-12) |
TV -- Mysids, copepods, amphipods, and juvenile
herring. |
Breder (1922b) |
Raritan Bay, NJ |
1921 (summer) |
? (33-51) |
FO? -- Squid, shrimp, juvenile Atlantic menhaden,
silver perch, and anchovy. |
Tressler and Bere (1939) |
Southern Long Island, NY |
1938 (summer) |
89 (4-11) |
FO? -- Crangon and copepods. |
Shuster (1959) |
Delaware Bay |
1952 (summer/fall) |
205 (12-30) |
FO -- Neomysis, unidentified fish, Solen viridis, and Crangon |
Richards (1963) |
Long Island Sound |
1956-57 (seasonally) |
Sand station - 23 (4-10)
|
FO? -- Crangon, Upogebia sp., juvenile bay anchovy, copepods, and Ampelisca sp. |
Mud station - 48 (4-8) |
FO? -- Crangon, Neomysis,
and copepods. |
de Sylva et al. (1962) |
Delaware Bay |
1958-60 (summer/fall) |
220 (2-15) |
FO -- Neomysis, Crangon,
decapod larvae, juvenile Limulus polyphemus, and unidentified juvenile
fish. |
Van Engle and Joseph (1968) |
Chesapeake Bay, VA |
1967 (summer) |
268 ("juveniles") |
TV -- Unidentified fish (mostly bay anchovy
and naked goby), Neomysis, Crangon, copepods, and amphipods.
FO -- Neomysis, fish, copepods, and amphipods. |
Thomas (1971) |
Delaware River |
1969 (summer/fall) |
494 (5-18) |
FO -- Neomysis, Gammarus sp., unidentified fish , juvenile weakfish, detritus, and copepods. |
64 (>18) |
FO -- Juvenile weakfish, unidentified fish, Neomysis, and Gammarus sp. |
Kimmel (1973) |
Mouth of Chesapeake Bay |
1971-72 (spring/summer) |
27 (2-28) |
TV -- Neomysis, calanoid copepods, Crangon, and unidentified crustaceans. |
Festa (1979) |
Little Egg Harbor, NJ |
1972-77 (summer/fall) |
51 (<17) |
TV -- Neomysis, fish (anchovy), Crangon,
and Ampelisca sp.
FO -- Neomysis, Crangon, fish, and Ampelisca sp. |
Chao and Musick |
York River, VA |
1973 (summer) |
36 (7-18) |
FO -- Bay anchovy, Neomysis, and other
fish. |
Allen et al. (1978) |
Hereford Inlet, NJ |
1973-77 (biweekly/monthly) |
86 (3-22) |
FO -- Mysids, Crangon, crab larvae,
and unidentified fish. |
Bason et al. (1975, 1976); Keirsey et al. (1977) |
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, DE |
1974-76 (summer/fall) |
1,119 (2-44, mostly < 10) |
TV -- Neomysis, bay anchovy, Crangon, Gammarus sp., juvenile fish (Atlantic menhaden, weakfish, and croaker),
polychaetes, and Corophium sp. |
Homer and Boynton (1978) |
Chesapeake Bay, MD |
1977 (summer) |
808 (3-19) |
TW -- Bay anchovy, Pseudodiaptomus coronatus,
juvenile weakfish, Nereis succinea, and other polychaetes. |
Scarlett and Giust (1989) |
Manasquan River, NJ |
1984-86 (monthly) |
45 (9-20) |
TV -- Crangon, sand lance, detritus, Neomysis, unidentified fish, and naked goby. |
Hartman and Brandt (1995) |
Chesapeake Bay |
1990-92 (bimonthly?) |
564 (age 0) |
TW -- Juvenile bay anchovy and other fish (e.g. juvenile croaker). |
353 (age 1) |
TW -- Bay anchovy, juvenile Atlantic menhaden,
spot, and other fish. |
54 (age 2+) |
TW -- Spot, Atlantic menhaden, juvenile summer
flounder, and bay anchovy. |
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