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fish and bluefish), and anchovies (preyed upon by Atlantic 

 sharpnose shark, black sea bass, weakfish, northern king- 

 fish, and windowpane). 



South of Cape Hatteras (including inshore and offshore 

 areas from Cape Hatteras to Cape Fear), fish prey were al- 

 most exclusively anchovies (food of Atlantic sharpnose 

 shark, dusky shark, summer flounder, bluefish, black sea 

 bass, weakfish, southern kingfish, northern kingfish, and 

 spot) and herrings (consumed by Atlantic sharpnose shark, 

 bluefish, black sea bass, and weakfish). 



Squid 



Longfin inshore and northern shortfin squids were the 

 principal squid species identified as prey within all areas 

 sampled except the Middle Atlantic (Appendix B). In the 

 Middle Atlantic, only longfin inshore squid was found to 

 be a major squid prey, although it didn't make up >50% of 

 the stomach contents of a single species. 



Table 3 shows that several species fed intensively on 

 squid (/. e. , the stomachs of all predators noted immediately 

 below contained on average >50% squid by weight). For 

 example, the diet of summer flounder and bluefish sampled 

 in Southern New England was mostly squid. On Georges 

 Bank, squid was an important prey of bluefish and fourspot 

 flounder. In Scotian Shelf waters, predation on squid was 

 noted by pollock and northern shortfin squid. Goosefish 

 was identified as having >50% squid in the diet for the 

 inshore area north of Cape Hatteras. No predators were 

 observed with >50% squid in their diet for the area south of 

 Cape Hatteras. 



Polychaetes 



Polychaetes were an important food source (i.e., >50% 

 of stomach contents by weight) for relatively few species, 

 but they were taken as prey in all areas sampled (Table 4 

 and Appendix B). Taxonomic groups making up the major- 

 ity of the polychaete prey were nephtyids, nereids, 

 lumbrinerids, flabelligerids, spionids, and ampharetids. 



Species in the Middle Atlantic whose main prey was 

 polychaetes are winter flounder, Gulf Stream flounder, and 

 scup. In Southern New England, polychaetes didn't make 

 up >50% of the stomach contents of any predator exam- 

 ined. However, the stomachs of haddock, winter flounder, 

 and Gulf Stream flounder all contained >40%. On Georges 

 Bank, yellowtail and witch flounders were identified as two 

 species which fed intensively (i.e., >50%) on polychaetes. 

 Of all species examined from the Gulf of Maine and Scotian 

 Shelf, only witch flounder stomachs contained >50% poly- 

 chaetes (in both areas). The inshore area north of Cape 

 Hatteras yielded the most predator species (i.e., 10) with 

 >10% by weight of polychaetes in their stomachs, but the 

 stomachs of only two species, witch flounder and spot, 



contained >50%. Not a single species examined from wa- 

 ters south of Cape Hatteras had stomachs containing >50% 

 polychaetes, and only scup stomachs contained >10%. 



Decapod Crustaceans 



Relatively few species made up the majority of decapod 

 crustacean prey throughout the entire survey area, but those 

 species were an important food source for many predators 

 (Table 5 and Appendix B). For example, decapods accounted 

 for >50% of the stomach contents of dusky shark, smooth 

 dogfish, and blackbelly rosefish in the Middle Atlantic, and 

 for >50% of the stomach contents of smooth dogfish, win- 

 dowpane, northern kingfish, and southern kingfish in wa- 

 ters south of Cape Hatteras. 



In the Middle Atlantic and in waters south of Cape 

 Hatteras, Crangon septemspinosa, portunids (e.g., Ovalipes 

 ocellatus), Cancer irroratus, and Munida spp. were impor- 

 tant decapod prey. 



Four predators examined from the Southern New En- 

 gland area (i.e., smooth dogfish, black sea bass, longhorn 

 sculpin, and sea raven) fed intensively on decapods. In 

 this area, for all predators which ate decapods, the most 

 important prey were C. irroratus, C. borealis, Crangon 

 septemspinosa, and Dichelopandalus leptocerus. 



On Georges Bank, the same species of prey as noted for 

 Southern New England were also principal food, along with 

 Hyas spp. and Pagarus spp. Only the stomachs of long- 

 horn sculpin and sea raven sampled on Georges Bank con- 

 tained >50% decapods. 



The largest portion of the decapods consumed in the 

 Gulf of Maine was made up of a combination of Cancer 

 borealis, Hyas spp., Pandalus borealis, and D. leptocerus. 

 Predators in this area with >50% decapod prey were 

 blackbelly rosefish and longhorn sculpin. 



In Scotian Shelf waters, decapods such as C. irroratus, 

 Pasiphaea spp., Crangon septemspinosa, and D. leptocerus 

 were the most important prey. The stomach contents of 

 both sea raven and longhorn sculpin contained >50% de- 

 capods. Also worthy of mention is Atlantic halibut with 

 49.6% decapods. 



Fish from the inshore area north of Cape Hatteras fed 

 principally on Cancer irroratus, O. ocellatus, Crangon 

 septemspinosa, and D. leptocerus. Predators in the inshore 

 area with >50% decapod prey were smooth dogfish and 

 black sea bass. 



Crustaceans Other than Decapods 



Five taxonomic groups accounted for the majority of 

 crustacean prey other than decapods. Three of these (i.e., 

 copepods, amphipods, and euphausiids) were an important 

 food in all geographic areas sampled (i.e., either individu- 

 ally or in some combination they made up >50% of the diet 



