Diet
Coral trout are piscivores (fish-eating predators). Younger juvenile trout mostly eat crustaceans, especially prawns which live on or near the reef bottom. However, adults feed upon a variety of reef fish. The most common type of fish eaten is damselfish (family Pomacentridae), particularly the spiny chromis damselfish (Acanthochromis polyacanthus). Adult coral trout also eat juveniles of their own species. Individual coral trout usually feed once every 1–3 days, although they may go for many days without feeding. 90% of a prey item will be digested within 24 hours. Coral trout only feed during daylight hours, most often at dusk and dawn.
Coral trout hunt in two different ways: by ambush and by prowling. They use the ambush method to hunt fish that live among the coral on the reef bottom. The trout will hide and remain very still and alert, ready to attack passing prey. The prowling method is used to hunt schooling fish higher up in the water. Here, the trout will move (prowl) slowly towards the prey and attack at great speed.
Individual coral trout have different feeding behaviors, possibly explaining the variability in growth and maturity.
Studies have shown that coral trout in the southern Great Barrier Reef feed mainly on parrot fish (family Scaridae) and hardyhead bait fish (family Atherinidae). The most common prey items further north are the damselfish (Pomacentridae) and fusiliers or banana fish (Caesionidae). One study showed coral trout eating schools of fusilers in summer, and scarids during the winter months. This seasonal variation is quite common in the diet of coral trout due to varying abundances of prey at different times of the year. Trout also tend to eat more food in winter, possibly to increase fat stores in preparation for reproduction in spring.
Harvest
Queensland, Australia has a significant coral trout fishery. Fisher people catch the trout using hand lines and pilchards for bait, operating from small dories or runabouts throughout the day then returning to a mother ship where the catch is kept live in bio tanks until the return to Port after several days working at sea.
Read more about this topic: Coral Trout
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