siacea (mostly Meganyctiphanes norvegica) made 

 up 18.0% of the stomach contents. The Mysidacea 

 (12.9%) were primarily Neomysis americana 

 (3.7%), and the Decapoda (11.2%) consisted 

 mainly of Crangon septemspinosa (2.8%). Cope- 

 poda (4.8%) and Cumacea (0.2%) made up the rest 

 of the crustacean portion of the Atlantic cod diet. 

 None of the species offish were identified (16.0%). 

 The remaining prey were the Polychaeta (0.4%), 

 Mollusca (0.1%), and Chaetognatha ( +). 



The predominant food of Atlantic cod 9 cm FL 

 and longer was benthic organisms such as Gam- 

 maridae, Caprellidae, and Cumacea, which made 

 up more than 50% of the diet. Plankton (i.e., 

 copepods and euphausiids), the main food found in 

 the stomachs of cod <9 cm FL, made up a progres- 

 sively smaller percentage of the diet as the size of 

 the fish increased. Small quantities of sand and 

 gammarid amphipods were found in the stomachs 

 of the smallest fish collected (3 cm FL). 



Haddock 



Small crustaceans accounted for 62.3% of the 

 haddock diet. Amphipod crustaceans were the 

 single most important food (27.6%). Corophiidae 

 (primarily Unciola sp.) were by far the most 

 common amphipod identified in the stomach con- 

 tents (5.0%). Other amphipod groups frequently 

 found as prey were, in order of dietary importance, 

 Caprellidae (mainly Aeginina longicornis), Am- 

 peliscidae, Aoridae, Hyperiidae, Gammaridae, 

 and Pontogeneiidae. The Euphausiacea (chiefly 

 Meganyctiphanes norvegica) accounted for 13.0% 

 of the juvenile haddock diet. Crangon septemspin- 

 osa (2.6%) made up the largest part of the decapod 

 prey. Crustaceans of lesser dietary importance to 

 haddock were the Mysidacea (1.5%), Isopoda 

 (0.7%), Cumacea (0.7%), and Copepoda (0.6%). 



The largest contributor to the identified poly- 

 chaete prey (13.6%) was nereidiform worms (al- 

 most 5%), with Eunice sp. being the most common 

 nereidiform found in the stomach contents (1.0%). 

 Other polychaete groups identified in the stomach 

 contents included the suborders Spioniformia, 

 Scoleciformia, Capitelliformia, Terebelliformia, 

 and Sabelliformia. 



Fish made up 5.0% of the diet, with silver hake 

 composing almost half (2.2%) of this prey group. 

 Small quantities {+) of Atlantic herring, Clupea 

 h. harengus, and Bothidae were the only other fish 

 identified. Echinodermata (1.2%), Chaetognatha 



(0.2%), and Mollusca (0.1%) were of little impor- 

 tance in the diet of juvenile haddock. 



Haddock approximately 8 cm FL and longer fed 

 heavily on the benthos (i.e., amphipods, decapods, 

 and polychaetes). Pelagic organisms such as cope- 

 pods and euphausiids were the predominant food 

 of fish <8 cm FL. Benthic amphipods and cuma- 

 ceans were found in the diet of haddock 2 cm FL. 



Silver Hake 



Silver hake preyed heavily on Crustacea 

 (89.0%). Euphausiids were the single most impor- 

 tant food (44.4%). Meganyctiphanes norvegica 

 (22.8%) and Thysanoessa sp. (2.0%) were the 

 common euphausiids identified in the stomach 

 contents. Decapods (30.4%) included Crangon sep- 

 temspinosa (21.5%) and pandalid shrimp (7.9%). 

 Most of the pandalid shrimp were identified as 

 Dichelopandalus leptocerus (3.8%). Amphipod 

 prey (6.6%) came mostly from the families Am- 

 peliscidae (1.9%) such as Ampelisca sp. (0.4%), or 

 Tironidae (0.6%) which were identified as Syrrhoe 

 crenulata (0.6%). Mysids (2.6%) taken by silver 

 hake were all identified as Neomysis americana 

 (2.0%). Cumaceans (0.1%), copepods (0.1%), and 

 isopods (-I-) contributed little to the silver hake 

 diet. 



Small fish and fish larvae composed 8.5% of the 

 silver hake food. The American sand lance, Am- 

 modytes americanus (3.0%); sculpins (2.3%); and 

 hakes (2.1%) were the only fish identified in the 

 diet. Chaetognatha (0.8%), Polychaeta (0.3%), and 

 Mollusca (-I-) were not important contributors to 

 the food of juvenile silver hake. 



Crangon septemspinosa and bottom living am- 

 phipods were found in the stomachs of the smallest 

 (3 cm FL) silver hake collected. However, the 

 benthos did not increase in importance in the diet 

 of the larger silver hake. The primairy prey of all 

 silver hake collected (3-20 cm FL) was the 

 euphausiid, Meganyctiphanes norvegica. 



Pollock 



Crustaceans (68.2%) were the most important 

 food of pollock. Euphausiacea, primarily 

 Meganyctiphanes norvegica (40.9%) and small 

 quantities of Thysanoessa inermis (2.3%), made 

 up 55.8% of the crustaceans found in the stomachs. 

 Byblis serrata (1.3%), along with small amounts of 

 Caprellidae and Haustoriidae, accounted for the 

 majority of the amphipod prey (1.5%). Decapod 



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