Gulf menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) diet, growth and condition data collected during the R/V Point Sur cruise BCS01 in the northern Gulf of Mexico from 2016-02-10 to 2016-02-12

This dataset contains Gulf menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) diet, growth, and condition data collected during the R/V Point Sur cruise BCS01 in the northern Gulf of Mexico from 2016-02-10 to 2016-02-12, a month after the opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway. Subsurface plankton samples were collected using a bongo net system equipped with 333 and 202 µm mesh nets. Dataset also includes temperature, salinity, scattering at 530 nm, and copepod density data. Within the sampling area, three water masses were identified based on temperature, salinity, scattering, and prey field (copepod abundance). Ichthyoplankton (Gulf menhaden, Brevoortia patronus) diet, growth based on examination of otoliths, and condition based on the ratio of measured to predicted dry mass were analyzed for these three water masses.