334 



Fishery Bulletin 90(2), 1992 



smaller tonguefishes. In C. arel, amphipods (59.2% IRI) 

 dominated diets of juveniles, followed by tintinnids 

 (12.4% IRI). Smaller-sized prawns (8.2% IRI), copepods 

 (6.9% IRI), and polychaetes (6.4% IRI) were next in 

 importance. Fish remains, isopods, smaller crabs, and 

 nematodes were found in decreasing order of impor- 

 tance and never composed more than 5% of the IRI. 

 Breadth of the diet is much smaller in juveniles than 

 adults (compare Tables 1-4 and 5). Only 10 types of 

 food items occurred in stomachs of relatively few 

 juveniles examined, whereas 29 different types of prey 

 were noted in stomachs of adult C. arel (Tables 1-2, 

 5). In adult stomachs, fewer amphipods and more 

 polychaetes were found than in juvenile stomachs. 

 Prawns were the third most important prey in the diet 

 of the juveniles, whereas in adults they were the sec- 

 ond most important. Algal filaments were found only 

 in stomachs of adults, while tintinnids were found only 

 in stomachs of juveniles. 



Juvenile C. lida fed on only 10 types of prey items 

 and usually smaller sizes, whereas adults consumed 24 



types of relatively large-sized prey items (Tables 3-5). 

 Copepods (44.7% IRI) were preyed upon predominantly 

 by juveniles of C. lida (Fig. 2), while polychaetes were 

 dominant in the diet of adults. Hyperiid amphipods 

 (13.2% IRI), which were of secondary importance and 

 abundant in the diet of juveniles, occurred in smaller 

 quantities in adult stomachs. Crustacean fragments 

 were the second most important food item for adults. 

 Other food items of juveniles are listed in Table 5. 



However, the sample sizes for the juveniles of both 

 tonguefishes are quite smaller than those of the adults. 

 Therefore, the differences in number of prey in adults 

 and juveniles may reflect differences in sample sizes. 



Food of males and females A total of 76% of males 

 and females of C. arel, and 65% of males and 73% 

 of females of C. lida, had identifiable prey in their 

 stomachs. In C. lida, females consumed 19 types of 

 food items and males consumed 24 types (Tables 3-4). 

 Polychaetes were relatively more abundant (Fig. 2) in 

 the diet of females than males (65.9% vs. 53.4% IRI). 



