Abstract

Red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, larvae (10 - 12 mm standard length, SL) were collected from a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) hatchery and reared on either artificial pellets (Rangen and Otohime feeds) or live prey (enriched Artemia franciscana, mysid shrimp) for a 14 day period. High-speed video was then used to evaluate differences in prey-capture (attack distance, mean attack velocity, capture time, and gape cycle duration) and anti-predator (reaction distance, response distance, maximum velocity, and maximum acceleration) performance between the two rearing groups. Repeated-measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) indicated that red drum reared on pellets exhibited significantly longer gape cycle duration while feeding on a natural prey item (mysid shrimp), while red drum reared on live prey exhibited significantly greater maximum velocity and maximum acceleration when responding to a visual stimulus. Results of this study suggest that diet may influence certain behaviors linked to survival success in hatchery red drum

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