Feeding Behavior of Adult Striped Bass, Roccus saxatilis, in Relation to Stages of Sexual Maturity

Abstract

We determined stomach contents of 1,070 adult striped bass from the Roanoke River, North Carolina, during their upstream migration. Of these, 259 were taken downstream by gill nets in April in the Williamston area, some 93 miles below the major spawning ground. Nearly half (46.3%) of the stomachs contained food, which consisted solely of blueback herring,Alosa aestivalis, or alewife,A. pseudoharengus, or, both. All striped bass examined from the downstream station were in a prespawning stage. The remaining 811 specimens came upriver in May from the Weldon area, the major spawning site of striped bass in the Roanoke River. Here, fish caught by hook and line revealed that 4 out of 20 (20.0%) stomachs of females and 10 out of 69 (14.5%) stomachs of males contained food. These fish were in a prespawning or spent state. Drift nets caught 34 females, which had empty stomachs, and 433 males, of which 11 (2.3%) had food. Of the females, 32 were in a spawning and 2 were in a prespawning stage. Of the males, all but 22 were in a spawning or spent stage. Food items in order of importance were: golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas), unidentified minnows, blueback herring, and gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum). Fight net catches, accounted for 29 females and 226 males; all had empty stomachs, and all were in a spawning or spent stage. Thus, we conclude that fasting occurs for only a brief period just before and during the act of spawning.