Selection of meiobenthic prey by juvenile spot (Pisces): an experiments, study

Abstract

Meiofauna are known to b e important components of the diet of many juvenile fish, but whether these fish actively select certain taxa has yet to be fully determined. Harpacticoid copepods account for 70 % of the visible prey items in luvenlle spot Leiostomus xanthurus collected from North Inlet Estuary, South Carolina, USA. The sediment fauna in North Inlet, however, is numencally composed of 70 % nematodes and only 17 % copepods. Controlled feeding experiments were conducted to determine if spot select copepods in preference to nematodes and whether prey motility is a factor in the selection. Spot were allowed to feed for 1 h in aquana containing azoic sedlment seeded wlth live (i.e. motile) and freshly-killed (i.e. immobile) copepods and live and freshly-hlled nematodes. Spot selected llve copepods over all other prey types. Greater copepod motility compared to nematodes is probably the primary factor in copepod selection by spot.