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Diet Of Tripletail, Lobotes Surinamensis, From Mississippi Coastal Waters, James S. Franks, Katherine E. Vanderkooy, Nikola M. Garber

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The diet of tripletail, Lobotes surinamensis, collected from the Mississippi Sound and Mississippi's offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico between April and September 1995-1997, was investigated through analysis of stomach contents. Of 178 tripletail stomachs examined, 136 (76%) contained prey items, and 42 (24%) were empty. Tripletail with prey in their stomachs ranged from 183 to 787 mm total length (mean 522.6 mm) and 0.14 to 10.5 kg total weight (mean 3.64 kg). The diet consisted of 32 different prey types and was comprised of shrimp, crabs, and teleost fishes which were represented by about equal number and …