FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 80, NO. 3 



general (El-Sayed 1968) through the year. The 

 composition of the sea bed varies among mud, 

 rubble, and bedrock. Mud bottoms, consisting of 

 glacial flour and diatomaceous oozes, are most 

 common and are found in most straits, bays, and 

 large inlets. Rubble bottoms, composed of heter- 

 ogeneous mixtures of gravel, cobbles, and 

 boulders, are generally found in small, pro- 

 tected, nearshore coves. Rock cliffs are common 

 along coastal areas and on many submerged 

 mounts. Each bottom type supports a distinctive 

 fauna (Lowry 1969; DeLaca 1976; Kauffman 

 1977; Daniels and Lipps 1982). Approximately 

 40 species of fish are found off the Antarctic 

 Peninsula (DeWitt 1971). Table 1 provides a 

 brief description of the species included in this 

 study. 



METHODS 



Fish used in this study were collected at 11 

 sites from Terra Firma Islands, Margurite Bay 

 (lat. 68°42'S, long. 67°32'W) to Low Island (lat. 



63°25'S, long. 62°10'W) using otter and Isaacs- 

 Kidd trawls, long lines, barrel nets, mud grabs, 

 and hand nets used by scuba divers between 27 

 January and 28 December 1975 (Fig. 1). Samples 

 were taken at most sites in February or March; a 

 second collection was taken in December at four 

 sites. In areas adjacent to Palmer Station, fish 

 were collected at monthly intervals from 

 January to December. 



Fish were preserved immediately in 4% 

 buffered formaldehyde solution; preservative 

 was injected into the stomach cavities of larger 

 specimens. Most species did not regurgitate 

 stomach contents when placed in preservative. 

 However, most channichthyids everted their 

 stomachs when caught; therefore, these species 

 are not included in the analysis and only a 

 qualitative description of their diets is presented. 

 A total of 1,609 stomachs of 19 species were 

 examined. Each of the major Antarctic families 

 is represented: 12 nototheniids, 2 harpagiferids, 

 2 bathydraconids, and 3 channichthyids. Speci- 

 mens were later measured (standard length 



Table 1. — Distribution and morphometric data of fishes collected off the Antarctic Peninsula, 1975. 



Norman (1940) and DeWitt (1971). 



Information on ranges from 



576 



