BOWMAN: FOOD OF SILVER HAKE 



and just after midnight (Fig. 4). During springtime, 

 large silver hake have substantial quantities of food 

 in their stomachs (almost twice as much as during 

 autumn) for two time periods, one near dusk and the 

 other just before noon. Smaller fish have the most 

 food in their stomachs just after midnight during 

 spring (Fig. 5). No indication of a particular prey 

 being eaten at a particular time of day was noted. 



silver hake within all geographic areas. Silver hake 

 caught in the Middle Atlantic have the highest per- 

 centage offish in their diet (Middle Atlantic, 87.5%; 

 Southern New England, 78.4%; Georges Bank, 

 76.4%), but most was unidentified (60.4%). Silver 

 hake (20.8%) and herring (Clupeidae, 3.2%) make up 



Diet Within Geographic Areas 



Stomach content data for silver hake collected in 

 various geographic areas (i.e., Middle Atlantic, 

 Southern New England, and Georges Bank) are pre- 

 sented in Table 7. Fish is by far the dominant prey of 



FIGURE 4. — Adjusted mean stomach content weight of large (24-35 

 cm FL) and small (4-15 cm FL) silver hake collected in the autumn 

 versus time of day. The number of fish sampled in each time period is 

 given just above the histogram. 



TABLE 4.— Stomach contents of male and female silver hake 

 collected in the Northwest Atlantic during 1973-76. Data are 

 expressed as a percentage weight. (+ indicates <0.1%.) 



Prey 



Male 



Female 



Figure 5. -Adjusted mean stomach content weight of large (24-35 cm FL) 

 and small (4-15 cm FL) silver hake collected in springtime versus time of 

 day. The number of fish sampled in each time period is given just above the 

 histogram. 



27 



