FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 75, NO. 1 



TABLE 6. — General systematic list of prey species identified from 

 the stomachs of 649 Merluccius albidus. List is arranged al- 

 phabetically. 



TABLE 7. — Types of identified prey, according to the adaptive life 

 zone they inhabit, from the stomachs of 649 Merluccius albidus. 



FISHES 

 Apogonidae 



Epigonus pandionus 



Synagrops sp. 



Synagrops bella 



Synagrops spinosa 

 Argentinidae 



Argentina striata 

 Ariommidae 



Ariomma sp. 



Ariomma bondi 

 Bathyclupeidae 



Bathyclupea sp. 

 Brotulidae 



Dicrolene intronigra 



Monomitopus agassizi 

 Carangidae 



Trachurus lathami 

 Chauliodontidae 



Chauliodus sloani 

 Chlorophthalmidae 



Chlorophthalmus agassizi 

 Clupeidae 



Etrumeus teres 

 Evermanellidae 



Evermanella sp. 

 Gempylidae 



Nesiarchus nasustus 



Scombrolabrax heterolepis 

 Gonostomatidae 



Gonostoma sp. 



Gonostoma elongatum 



Mauroluccius mulleri 



Polymetme corythaeoia 



Triplophos hemingi 



Yarella blackfordi 

 Macrouridae 



Bathygadus macrops 



Coelorhynchus carminatus 



Coryphaenoides colon 



Gadomus arcuatus 



Gadomus longifilis 



Hymenocephalus italicus 



Malacocephalus sp. 



Nezumia sp. 



Nezumia aequalis 

 Malacosteidae 

 Melanostomatidae 

 Merlucciidae 



Merluccius albidus 



Steindachneria argentea 

 Myctophidae 



Lampadema luninosa 



Neoscopelus macrolepidotus 



Nomeidae 



Cubiceps sp. 



Psenes sp. 

 Percophididae 



Bembrops sp. 



Bembrops gobioides 

 Polymixidae 



Polymixia lowei 

 Squalidae 



Etmopterus schultzi 

 Sternoptychidae 

 Stomiatidae 

 Trichiuridae 

 Unidentified fishes 

 MOLLUSKS 

 Limpets 



Fissularidae 

 Squids 



///ex sp. 



///ex illecebrosus 



Oregoniateuthis springeri 



Pholidotheuthis adami 

 Unidentified squids 

 CRUSTACEANS 

 Caridea 

 Euphausiacea 

 Euryonidae 



Steromastis sculpta 

 Glyphocrangonidae 



Glyphocrangon sp. 



Glyphocrangon alispina 

 Nematocarcinidae 



Nematocarcinus sp. 

 Oplophridae 



Notostomus sp. 

 Pandalidae 



Plesionika acanthonotus 

 Pasiphaeidae 



Pasiphaea sp. 

 Penaeidae 



Aristeus antillensis 



Benthysicymus sp. 



Hymenopenaeus sp. 



Hymenopenaeus debilis 



Hymenopenaeus robustus 



Parapenaeus sp 



Penaeopsis megalops 

 Unidentified crustaceans 

 Unidentified shrimps 

 UROCHORDATA 

 Pyrosomidae 



Pyrosoma sp. 



Adaptive 

 zone 



Taxa 



Fre- 

 quency 



Percent 



total 



frequency 



TABLE 8. — Catch rates of Merluccius albidus and trawl effort by 

 time of day on the slope in the Gulf of Mexico during May 1973. 



Item 



Twilight 



Day 0500-0659 Night 



0700-1759 1800-1959 2000-0459 



Average no. of fish/hour 

 Hours fished 



15.2 



60.75 



13.6 

 34.00 



14.5 

 54.00 



TABLE 9. — Frequency of Merluccius albidus stomachs contain- 

 ing food, from the Gulf of Mexico in 330 to 730 m during May and 

 September 1973, in 4-h intervals. 



contained primarily members of the resident 

 benthic community. 



This feeding behavior is in contrast to that 

 described for other species of Merluccius. Initia- 

 tion of feeding after sunset has been suggested for 

 M. productus (Alton and Nelson 1970) and for all 

 hake (Hickling 1927). 



Most offshore hake caught during the survey 

 regurgitated due to changes in hydrostatic pres- 

 sure with only 8.2% (651 of 7,944) of those stom- 

 achs examined containing food. Fishes composed 

 the major portion of the diet of M. albidus, followed 

 by squid and crustaceans (Table 7). Fishes were 

 exclusively present in about 75% of the stomachs 



examined and either singularly or together with 

 crustaceans and squid in about 80% of these 

 stomachs. Twenty-nine percent of the fishes eaten 

 were mesopelagic and 69% were benthic. 



Thirty-two identifiable prey species from M. 

 albidus stomachs are listed in Table 6 by familial 

 groups. Steindachneria argentea (Merlucciidae) 

 was found most frequently, followed by species of 

 Myctophidae (Table 7). About 2% of the specimens 

 examined had been feeding on juvenile M . albidus 

 indicating some degree of cannibalism. 



Benthic penaeid and caridean shrimp were the 

 dominant crustaceans found in stomachs of M. 

 albidus. Penaeopsis megalops was the dominant 



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