FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 86, NO. 4 



Table 3.— Stomach contents of 73 Apristurus brunneus (mean size = 496 

 mm TL, SD = 40, min = 396, max = 619). PO = percent occurrence, PN 

 = percent number, PW = percent weight, IRI = index of relative importance. 



(40% of total IRI), especially carideans of the family 

 Pasiphaeidae (15%), dominated the contents. Tele- 

 osts (10%), including myctophids, were also impor- 

 tant. Most fish remains in the stomachs were 

 digested beyond recognition. Squids made up the re- 

 mainder of the diets (3%). There was no evidence 

 for a size-related change in diet; the dominant prey 

 occurred in all sizes of fish examined. 



The stomachs of 73 A. brunneus contained an 

 average of 2.7 prey items (SD = 1.7, max = 10) and 

 the contents averaged 0.7% of body weight (SD = 

 0.4, max = 1.99). Content weight was not correlated 

 with body weight (Spearman r^ = 0.227, P > 0.2), 

 and carapace length of the most frequently occur- 

 ring prey, Pasiphaea spp., was not correlated with 

 fish size (r, = -0.168, N = 3S, P > 0.2). Relative 

 content weight was not significantly different 

 among months (Kruskal-WaUis test, H = 14.89, P 

 = 0.19). 



Stomachs from 155 P. xaniurus were examined; 

 85 (55%) were empty or contained only traces of 



well-digested prey. There was no seasonal trend in 

 the proportion of empty stomachs. Crustaceans, 

 teleosts, and molluscs constituted the diets of the 

 remaining individuals (Table 4). Reptantian deca- 

 pods (36% of total IRI), particularly the galatheid 

 Pleuroncodes planipes (12%), dominated the con- 

 tents. Natantian decapods (3%) and teleosts (7%), 

 including myctophids, were also important. Most 

 fish remains in the stomach were digested beyond 

 recognition. Squids made up a small part of the diets 

 (<1%). There was no evidence for a size-related 

 change in diet; the dominant prey occurred in all 

 sizes of fish examined. 



The stomachs of 70 Parmaturus xaniurus con- 

 tained an average of 2.4 prey items (SD = 1.3, max 

 = 5) and the contents averaged 1.2% of body weight 

 (SD = 0.9, max = 4.7). Content weight was corre- 

 lated with body weight (Spearman Vg = 0.372, P < 

 0.002). Relative content weight was not significantly 

 different among months (Kruskal-Wallis test, H = 

 13.26, P = 0.35). 



698 



