Food of the Atlantic Croaker, Micropogonias undulatus, from Mississippi Sound and the Gulf of Mexico

Authors

Robin M. Overstreet, Gulf Coast Research LaboratoryFollow
Richard W. Heard, University of Southern MississippiFollow

Date of this Version

1978

Comments

Published in Gulf Research Reports (1978) 6(2): 145-152. Copyright 1978, the Gulf Coast Research laboratory. Used by permission.

Abstract

The diet of the Atlantic croaker from Mississippi Sound has been examined for the first time. Over 83 taxa were encountered, or more than were reported from croaker in any other region. We also found 60 taxa, 36 of which overlapped with the above, in croaker from various offshore stations in the Gulf of Mexico. In Mississippi Sound the frequency of occurrcnce of items revealed primarily crustaceans followed by polychaetes, molluscs, fishes, and less common items, and, in the open Gulf, molluscs appeared slightly more often than in inshore croaker and than polychaetes in offshore fish. The diets were assessed according to length of fish, season, depth of water, and locality.