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Food habits and feeding behavior of the cownose ray,Rhinoptera bonasus, in lower Chesapeake Bay

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Abstract

The most important food item of the cownose ray,Rhinoptera bonasus, in the Virginian tributaries of lower Chesapeake Bay is the soft shell clam,Mya arenaria. The Baltic macoma,Macoma balthica, ranks a distant second. Adult rays feed on deep burrowing mollusks, juveniles on shallow- or non-burrowing bivalves. Foraging schools of rays invade tidal flats during the flood tide. Stirring motions of the pectoral fins combined with suction from the expansive orobranchial chamber are probably used to excavate deep burrowing bivalves.

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Author notes

  1. Joseph W. Smith & John V. Merriner

    Present address: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Center, Beaufort Laboratory, U. S. Department of Commerce, 28516-9722, Beaufort, North Carolina

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The College of William and Mary School of marine Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science and, 23062, Gloucester Point, Virginia

    Joseph W. Smith & John V. Merriner

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  1. Joseph W. Smith
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  2. John V. Merriner
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Contribution Number 1232 from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and The College of William and Mary School of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062.

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Smith, J.W., Merriner, J.V. Food habits and feeding behavior of the cownose ray,Rhinoptera bonasus, in lower Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries 8, 305–310 (1985). https://doi.org/10.2307/1351491

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1351491

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