Ancylopsetta

Abstract: The food habits of four species of bothid flounders from Georgia coastal waters were examined by means of stomach content analyses. Ocellated flounders, Ancylopsetta quadrocellata (Gill); bay whiff, Citharichthys spilopterus (Gunther); and windowpane, Scophthalmus aquosus (Mitchill) fed heavily on the mysid shrimp, Neomysis americana, without regard to season of the year or location within the estuary. The food habits of both A. quadrocellata and C. spilopterus changed to some extent as the fish became larger. Organisms larger than N. americana dominated the stomach contents of A. quadrocellata larger than 150 mm standard length and C. spilopterus larger than 125 mm. S. aquosus, in the size range examined, fed almost exclusively on N. americana. Fringed flounder, Etropus crossotus (Jordan and Gilbert) primarily consumed the calanoid copepod, Pseudodiaptomus coronatus, during the spring, summer, and fall and diversified their food habits during the winter. P. coronatus dominated the stomach contents both in the rivers and sounds of Georgia estuarine waters and was the dominant organism in fishes of all sizes up to 100 mm when polychaete annelids became important. The food of E. crossotus did not appear to vary with time of day; however, E. crossotus did not actively feed at night. The difference in food habits between E. crossotus and the other three bothid species appears to be associated with the relative size of the mouth. Pleuronectiform fishes of the family Bothidae are common in the estuarine waters of the southeast­ ern United States. Otter trawl samples taken within the sounds and rivers of Georgia indicate that fishes of the family Sciaenidae are the most common, with bothids being among the next most common species. Summer flounder, Para­ lichthys dentatus and southern flounder, P. letho­ stigma, are common, but are not present in com­ mercially exploitable quantities. P. albigutta has also been reported from Georgia waters, but appears to be relatively rare (Dahlberg and Odum, 1970). Ocellated flounder, Ancylopsetta quadrocellata, while not commercially valuable, is occasionally caught by sport fishermen. Bothid flounders are generally associated with the bottom, either lying on the surface of the substrate or buried to a greater or lesser extent in the sediments. The feeding behavior of floun­ ders under various conditions (both in nature and in culture) has been described (Steven, 1930;