Summer Foods of Some Fish Species in East Bay, Texas

Abstract

Stomach contents are reported for 83 croaker (Micropogon undulatus) and 280 sand trout (Cynoscion arenarius); also for a few individuals each of sheepshead (Archosargus oviceps), sand perch Bairdiella chrysura), gafftopsail catfish (Bagre marinus), spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber), flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma), and redfish (Sciaenops ocellata). Variety is characteristic in the diets of all species. Populations of these fishes depend upon an adequate supply of small fishes, shrimps, and mollusks. During the summers of 1954 and 1955, the senior author was engaged in biological studies of East Bay, Texas, as a project of the Marine Division of the Texas Game and Fish Commission. During the investigations the food and feeding habits of several fishes were given attention. The junior authors participated in a program during the summer of 1955, and did intensive work in stomach analyses. Reid (1955a, 1955b) has presented general data on the food of sume East Bay fishes during the summer of 1954. The present paper presents a more salient account of the food relationships of certain of the fishes, and considers the effects on feeding habits of the introduction of more saline water (resulting from the construction of a pass between the bay and Gulf of Mexico, as described below) into the originally estuarine habitat. East Bay is a northeastwardly oriented arm of the Galveston Bay system, although an extensive reef (Hanna Reef) located across the lower end of the bay serves rather effectively as a barrier between East Bay and Galveston Bay proper. East Bay, approximately 20 miles long and five miles wide at the lower end, is separated from the Gulf by a slender projection of land, Bolivar Peninsula. The maximum depth at mean tide is about seven feet. The upper (northeast) portion of the bay is now connected with the Gulf by a pass (Rollover Pass) approximately 1900 feet long and 80 feet wide, opened in January, 1955. 'Contribution from the Marine Laboratory, Texas Game and Fish Commission, Rockport_ 2Formerly Department of Wildlife Management, Texas A&M College, College Station. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.37 on Thu, 28 Apr 2016 05:26:54 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms