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Feeding Habits of Young Winter Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus): Prey Availability and Diversity
Author(s) -
Frame David W.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1974)103<261:fhoywf>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - winter flounder , estuary , benthic zone , biology , crustacean , fishery , flounder , plankton , predation , ecology , fish <actinopterygii>
The principal diet of age I+ winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus captured in the Weweantic River Estuary, Wareham, Massachusetts was comprised of polychaetes, bivalves, gastropods, and crustaceans. During spring, flounder fed on planktonic crustaceans found within the estuary and during the summer and fall on mollusks and polychaetes at the estuaryˈs mouth. A new technique, percent overlap, is described for the comparison of the volume percentages of food species in Peterson grabs and stomachs. Percent overlap values were progressively higher with each season: March, 1.8%; June, 29%; July, 47%; October, 47%. The low overlap values, occurring when fish were within the estuary, indicated that the benthic community was not an important food source. Diversity indices (Shannon‐Weaver, Simpson and McIntosh) calculated for mollusks and macrocrustaceans were more variable at stations within the estuary than at the mouth.