The feeding ecology of the spotted dragonet Callionymus pauciradiatus was examined over a 15 mo period.This small epibenthic fish inhabits seagrass beds of southern Florida and the Caribbean.The fish fed almost exclusively on meiofauna, with harpacticoid copepods comprising an average of 89 % of the diet.Analysis of selectivity of prey items, based on comparison of the diet composition with natural meiofauna abundances, showed that the dragonets preferentially consume harpacticoids, mites, and ostracods.Results of gastric evacuation experiments to determine the rate of food passage through the gut gave an estimated daily ration of 1000 copepods fish-'.
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SM Sogard (1984) studied this question.