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Fishery Bulletin 104(4) 



the only size class found to consume squid in notable 

 amounts (Table 1), differences in the proportions of 

 squid consumed among all size classes were not signifi- 

 cant (//,„,,„^,,,,,=3.11. P=0.211, « = 138). All squid found in 

 the goosefish diet were classified as longfin squid. 



Silver hake Of the 980 silver hake stomachs examined, 

 over half (55%) contained prey. Silver hake ranged in 

 size from 60 to 484 mm TL (average=248.3 mm). Feed- 

 ing rates for silver hake were highest during the summer 

 months and lowest during the spring and fall. Overall, 

 silver hake fed primarily on fish and crustaceans, and 

 lesser amounts of squid and other invertebrates. Amphi- 

 pods and euphausiids were the dominant crustacean 

 prey. Consumption of gadiforms, including conspecifics 

 and unclassified osteichthyans, made up the majority 

 of piscine prey. 



Predation on squid differed significantly among sea- 

 sons (W„a'ju.sto/=1003. P=0.018, ?! = 55) and was at its 



maximum during winter (Table 2). Silver hake diets 

 exhibited a pronounced shift towards squid with in- 

 creasing size (Table 1). Small and medium hake ate 

 negligible amounts of squid. Conversely, squid totaled 

 nearly 20*7^ of all mass consumed by large hake. Dif- 

 ferences in squid predation among size classes were 

 significant <W„,/,„^„.,,=7.58, P=0.023, ;!=132). Longfin 

 squid was the dominant species of squid identified in 

 the silver hake diet. 



Summer flounder Of the 830 summer flounder ana- 

 lyzed, only 28'/f were found to be actively feeding. 

 Summer flounder spend the juvenile stage of their 

 life cycle in estuaries along the Northwest Atlantic 

 coast; hence few flounder <280 mm were present in the 

 analysis. Fish ranged in size from 250 to 750 mm TL 

 (average=450.7 mm). Overall, diets consisted primarily 

 of fish, squid, and stomatopods. Perciforms and clupe- 

 iforms were the dominant piscine prey. 



