CLARKE: DIEL FEEDING PATTERNS OF MESOPELAGIC FISHES 



Table 2. — Summary of data for each of the 16 species of fishes examined from each of the periods of the diel cycle. In each species/time 

 block, the first line gives the number of specimens examined and the number with stomach fullness <0.1% of fish dry weight in 

 parentheses; the second line, the size range of the specimens in millimeters standard length; and the third, the range of stomach fullness 

 values in percentage offish dry weight. All values of stomach fullness are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. 



food. The food from specimens taken by day sam- 

 ples was generally well digested; except for the 

 thoracic spots or "buttons" from Pleuromamma, 

 prey was rarely recognizable beyond general 

 category. 



Bolinichthys longipes (Figure 1) 



Analyses of B. longipes were complicated by the 

 frequent presence in the stomachs of digenetic 

 trematodes. These were 1-10 mm long (most were 

 1-5 mm) and occurred in 419f of the stomachs 

 examined. They were mingled with the food and 



appeared to have been fixed while wrapping 

 around or holding to items. As a probable conse- 

 quence, whole prey were rarely found inB. longipes' 

 stomachs. The parasites were, however, easily 

 separated from the food; they were not included 

 with either the fish or stomach content weight. 



The number of trematodes was roughly a func- 

 tion of size of the fish. Fish < ca. 30 mm SL usually 

 had 0-2 individuals while several > 40 mm con- 

 tained 10-20. Since there was little between- 

 period difference in size composition of the fish 

 examined, there was no apparent correlation of 

 trematode number with time of day. Also there 



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