Barnentos et al Differences in tfie feeding patterns of Sebastes capensis 



495 



and secondarily, a piscivorous species. Sixty prey items 

 were recorded in the entire study area, including Mysi- 

 dacea (75.069f IRI), the most important prey, followed by 

 Osteichthyes (6.29% IIR), Rhynchocinetes typus (6.03% 

 IRI), and Petrolisthes desmarestii (4.67% IRI). 



The composition of prey species for S. capensis showed 

 clear geographic variation. These changes were reflected 

 by the relative importance of the different prey items 

 in each of the study locations (Table 2) and were most 



evident in the fjords of Aysen and on the Argentinian 

 coast, where all of the prey items found (except for 

 Halicarcinus planatus) were unique to those locations. 

 The crustacean R. typus was one of the most important 

 prey items (50% IRI) between 23°S and 33°S. The rock 

 shrimp R. typus is distributed from 10°S in Peril to 38°S 

 on the Chilean coast (Retamal, 1981). Therefore, this 

 prey species is not available on the southern Chilean 

 coast (southward from 38°S). Between 37°S and 40°S, 



