| INFLUENCE OF ANTHROPOGENIC DISTURBANCES TO SURF-ZONE HABITAT ON THE DIET COMPOSITION AND FEEDING SUCCESS OF JUVENILE FLORIDA POMPANO (Trachinotus carolinus) AND GULF KINGFISH (Menticirrhus littoralis) |
| Haywood, J., jch9075@uncw.edu; Horton, A., abh4992@uncw.edu; Ryan, L., lmr8506@uncw.edu; Lankford, T., lankfordt@uncw.edu; Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA |
| Beach nourishment and residential development impact much of the ocean shoreline along the southeastern U.S. coast. The influences of these disturbances on fish habitat function have received relatively limited attention. We are examining the diet composition and feeding success of juvenile surf-zone fishes inhabiting beaches which vary in their degree of human disturbance. Highly-disturbed (nourished and developed), moderately-disturbed (unnourished but developed or nourished but undeveloped) and pristine (unnourished and undeveloped) beaches in southeastern North Carolina were sampled from 2008-2010 using a 30x2m haul seine. The diets of young-of-the-year (50-120mm TL) Florida pompano and Gulf kingfish were described by estimating gut fullness and by quantifying the % weight, % number, and % frequency of occurrence of prey items consumed. Relative importance of consumed prey species was estimated using the Index of Relative Importance (IRI) and compared among disturbance categories to test for negative impacts of anthropogenic disturbance. |
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