JOHN CHICK, Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2202, USA

MICHAEL J. VAN DEN AVYLE, Georgia Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, D. B. Warnell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA

Striped bass inhabiting Lake Marion, South Carolina, spawn in rivers which feed into this reservoir and their buoyant eggs and early larval stages are subject to hydrodynamic transport downstream. Cohorts of larvae could experience a riverine or lentic environment depending on stream flow and temperature, which affect transport and developmental rates of larvae. Our past research has shown that zooplankton abundance and composition vary along this riverine to lentic gradient and that larval foraging success is higher under the conditions found in the more lentic habitats. The objective of this study was to examine larval striped bass growth and responsiveness to predator attack under a range of foraging conditions similar to those found in Lake Marion. Striped bass larvae were raised from age 4 to 14 d at three prey levels: Low - representing riverine conditions; Medium - representing mean prey levels in lentic habitats; and High - representing peak densities in lentic habitats. Larval growth was highest in the High and Medium treatments, and negligible in he Low density treatments. We also video taped behavioral experiments where larvae from the three prey treatments were attacked with a model predator. Larval responsiveness to predator attacks was related to the prey treatments, but was not a simple function of larval size.