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.本数据集收录了墨西哥湾鲱（Gulf menhaden, Brevoortia patronus）的食性、生长及体况数据，相关数据采集于2016年2月10日至2016年2月12日在墨西哥湾北部开展的瑟角号（R/V Point Sur）BCS01航次，彼时距邦尼特卡雷分洪道（Bonnet Carré Spillway）启用已过去一个月。研究团队使用配备333 μm与202 μm网目网衣的双筐浮游生物网（bongo net system）采集了水下浮游生物样本。本数据集同时涵盖温度、盐度、530 nm处的散射信号以及桡足类（copepod）密度数据。在本次采样区域内，研究人员依据温度、盐度、散射信号及饵料场（桡足类丰度）识别出三种水团（water masses）。针对上述三种水团，研究人员对鱼浮游生物（ichthyoplankton）中的墨西哥湾鲱开展了三项分析：食性特征、基于耳石（otoliths）检测的生长情况，以及通过实测干重与预测干重比值计算得到的体况。