FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 80, NO. 2 



in four of the large V. nimbaria. Amphipods 

 were also apparently important items in the diet 

 of these large fish, but similar to the above exam- 

 ples, about 38 of the approximately 46 amphi- 

 pods recorded were eaten by only 2 of the 10 fish. 

 Vinciguerria poweriae was taken in small 

 numbers in the same day tows as V. nimbaria 

 and at night at 225-250 m (Table 3). Both the inci- 

 dence of fish with intact prey and the number of 

 prey per fish were lower at night, indicating 

 that, like V. nimbaria (Clarke 1978), V. poweriae 

 feeds during the day. The items and remains 

 found in stomachs of both groups indicate that V. 

 poweriae's diet is generally similar to that of 

 V. nimbaria of the same sizes. The lower per- 

 centages of Oncaea spp., higher percentages of 

 ostracods, and less diversity may have been an 

 artifact of small sample size. 



Sternoptychidae 



Valenciennellus tripunctulatus and Danaphos 

 oculatus (Table 4) were taken in day tows with 

 and slightly deeper than the Vinciguerria spp. 

 The small Valenciennellus tripunctulatus — 

 mostly from the shallower tows— had eaten some 

 Oncaea spp., ostracods, and small (1.0-1.5 mm) 

 calanoids, but most of their prey and all of those 

 of the larger fish were medium to large cala- 

 noids. Few prey were found in D. oculatus, but 

 with the exception of a small scolecithricid and 

 remains of an ostracod, all were large calanoids. 



Gonostomatidae 



The diet of Gonostoma atlanticum (Table 5) 

 from day tows consisted of essentially the same 



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