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Food Requirements and Sources for Juvenile Atlantic Menhaden
Author(s) -
Peters David S.,
Schaaf William E.
Publication year - 1981
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(1981)110<317:frasfj>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - menhaden , juvenile , fishery , environmental science , biology , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , fish meal
The role of juvenile Atlantic menhaden Brevoortia tyrannus in the energetics of the estuarine and nearshore ecosystem along the Atlantic coast of the United States is unknown, though hypothesized to be significant. Our objectives were to summarize existing data on feeding rates of individual fish and on population size, and to combine them to produce a preliminary estimate of the food required by the population of juveniles. Estimates of the total food consumed by each fish during its residency in the estuary ranged from 21.5 to 32.7 g dry weight of organic matter. Three population estimates ranged from 4.4 × 10 9 to 11.2 × 10 9 fish present in the autumn. An assumed average of 8.5 × 10 9 Atlantic menhaden would consume from 183 × 10 6 to 278 × 10 6 kg of organic matter, which is 6–9% of estimated phytoplankton production. The populationˈs estimated daily consumption in the autumn ranges from 0.6 to 1.0 g/m 2 , which equals the average daily phytoplankton production of 0.8 g/m 2 . We conclude that the population of juvenile Atlantic menhaden may consume more food during its residency than is available from phytoplankton or a phytoplankton‐based food chain. Organic detritus is suggested as an alternate source of energy.