MEYER ET AL AMERICAN SAND LANCE FROM THE GULF OF MAINE 



Figure 2. — Dive sites and location of 

 1977 food habits study on Stellwagen 

 Bank and Cape Cod (Provincetownl 

 from 1968 to 1977. Scuba (lines), sub- 

 mersible (dotted lines), 1977 bottom 

 trawl (hatching) sampling areas. See 

 Table 1 for key. 



(972- 1974 





FOOD HABITS STUDY 



\ ^ 



m^ v- 



8-11 August 1977, on Stellwagen Bank (scuba dive 

 locations 4, 5) and along the Provincetown slope 

 (scuba dive locations 1-3) (Figure 2C)., 



Divers, using a Hydro-Products Model 125 tele- 

 vision system with a 250-W thallium-iodide light 

 source, filmed sand lance behavior on and near the 

 bottom. The angles and speed at which sand lance 

 entered the bottom substrate and exited from it 

 were estimated from slow-motion video playback. 



Schooling behavior was observed and photo- 

 graphed using a Nikonos II underwater camera 

 with a 28- or 35-mm lens and a Subsea MK 150 or 

 225 electronic strobe. School strength, shape, 

 nearest-neighbor distance, and individual fish size 

 were estimated using in situ observations, photo- 



graphs, or bottom trawl data. School swimming 

 speeds were estimated at approximately 1 kn by 

 divers swimming parallel to several schools for 

 short distances. A speed of 1 kn is the approximate 

 short-term sustained swimming speed of a diver. 

 All in situ observations by diver scientists were 

 made in daylight between 0900 and 1600 h. 



Food Habits 



A series of nine tows were conducted from Al- 

 batross IV on the southwestern edge of Stellwagen 

 Bank over one 24-h period beginning at 1800 h on 

 9 August 1977 (Figure 2D). The tows were of 5-15 

 min duration at 3-h intervals and were made with 



245 



