Striped bass (Marone saxatilis) introduced into Lake E. V. Spence, a west Texas reservoir, showed reduced growth rates as shad (Dorosomasp.) declined. To study the relationship between these pehenomena, scales and stomach samples were collected from striped bass caught in gill nets, and the standing crop of shad was estimated from rotenone samples in August, 1972-1978. Declines in both striped bass growth and occurrence of food items in their stomachs coincided with the depletion of 76 and 178 mm shad after 1972. Surviving gizzard shad (D. cepedianum) grew rapidly, but threadfin shad (D. petenense) virtually disappeared as brood fish were decimated. Reducing the annual stocking rate from 24.7 to 12.4 striped bass fingerlingsjha in 1976 may have allowed gizzard shad to establish sufficient reproductive capacity to provide adequate forage.
