importance, with Dichelopandalus leptocerus (1.5% in 

 Southern New England and 6.4''c on Georges Bank) be- 

 ing the main prey item within this group. 



Cusk, Brosme brosme. — The areal breakdown of food 

 for cusk (Table 7) differs significantly from the sum- 

 mary (Table 1) which combines all areas into a single 

 group. This is primarily due to the heavy predation on 

 fish in Western Nova Scotia (98.2' c of the diet). In the 

 three other areas where cusk were collected the major 

 prey was either crustaceans or echinoderms. On Georges 

 Bank only four fish were examined and, of the two which 



Table 7. — C^graphic breakdown of food of the cusk. Brosme brosme. 

 in the northwest .-Xtlantic. Data are expressed as percenlage weight, 

 for Hsh collected durinK the spring and autumn bottom trawl survey 

 cruises l%9-72. (Middle Atlantic = no samples; -t- indicates present 

 but <0.1%.) 



POLYCHAETA 



Nereidiformia 



Terebelliformia 



Sabelliformia 



Other Polychaeta 

 CRUSTACEA 



Amphipoda 



Mysidacea 



Euphausiacea 



Pandalidae 



Crangonidae 



Axiidae 



Paguridae 



Majidae 



Cancridae 



Other Decapoda 



Other Crustacea 

 MOLLUSCA 



Gastropoda 



Pelecypoda 



Cephalopoda 



Other Mollusca 

 ECHINODERMATA 



Echinoidea 



Ophiuroidea 



Other Echinodermata 

 PISCES 



Clupeidae 



Gadidae 



Scombridae 



Scorpaenidae 



Bothidae 



Pleuronectidae 



Other Pisces 

 Other groups 

 Animal remains 

 Sand and rock 



lOO.O 20.0 



100.0 



90.6 



1.4 



20.0 



1.7 

 21.0 



55.5 

 12.4 



1.1 

 0.3 



80.0 



80.0 



4.2 



98.2 



4.2 



98.2 



1.3 

 3.1 

 0.8 



0.4 



had food in their stomachs, the prey was either brittle 

 stars (80.0"^;) or the toad crab, Hyas coarctatus (20.0'"c). 

 In Southern New England very few fish were examined. 

 The total quantity of prey was extremely small and con- 

 sisted exclusively of amphipods, Aoridae (57.1'f) and 

 Gammaridae (42.9'c). The largest sample of cusk came 

 from the Gulf of Maine, and here the primary prey was 

 Crustacea (90.6' c). Of the decapods that could be iden- 

 tified, the three pandalids, Pandalus borealis (17.0%), 

 Dichelopandalus leptocerus (3.5' c), and P. propinquus 

 (0.5%), together with some penaeid shrimp (6.9'c), were 

 the most important. However, small quantities of 

 Meganyctiphanes norvegica (1.7't) were also foimd in 

 the stomach contents. The remainder of the diet consist- 

 ed of fish (4.2'^<), and "Other Groups" such as brach- 

 iopods (1.2%), and sand or animal remains (3.9%). 



Red hake, Urophycis chuss. — In all five geographic 

 areas, at least half the red hake's diet was composed of 

 crustaceans (Table 8). In the Middle Atlantic, munid 

 crabs of the genera Munida (16.9%) and Munidopsis 

 (3.3'c) accounted for a large percentage of the crusta- 

 ceans classified under "Other Decapoda." Pandalid 

 shrimp (15.7'c) were the next most important prey group 

 with the majority of these identified as Dichelopandalus 

 (9.1%). Of secondary importance were the unidentified 

 amphipods (5.1%); the rock crab. Cancer irroratus (2.6%); 

 the sand shrimp, Crangon (2.2' c); and the isopod, 

 Cirolina (1.8' t). In Southern New England the munid 

 crab, Munida (12.9%), was again of primary impor- 

 tance, as was Dichelopandalus (5.6'c). Cancer irroratus 

 (1.6'f) and Crangon (1.5' r) were also preyed upon. On 

 Georges Bank the hermit crab, Pagurus (10.6'f ). and the 

 sand shrimp, Crangon (20.6'f), were major prey items. 

 Cancer crabs (8.7'c) and pandalid shrimp, Dichelopan- 

 dalus (6.1%), also contributed significantly to the diet. 

 Euphausiids (18.7'r), some of which could be identified 

 as Meganyctiphanes (5.6'"r); the pandalid shrimp, 

 Dichelopandalus (11.6'f); and the crab Cancer (11.2'(), 

 were of major importance in the Gulf of Maine, while the 

 pandalids, Dichelopandalus leptocerus (30.9%) and Pan- 

 dalus montagui (40.3'c), were the primary prey in 

 Western Nova Scotia. 



In three of the geographic areas, Pisces followed the 

 Crustacea as a major prey category. Many of the fish 

 eaten in the Middle Atlantic could not be identified. 

 However, of those identified one of the "Other Pisces" 

 was the snake eel (5.9'r), and the pleuronectid was the 

 winter flounder (0.1'c). Red hake were cannibalistic in 

 Southern New England (0.3' c) but also ate other gadids 

 such as the silver hake (0.3' <). The wrymouth (1.8'f), 

 Gulf Stream flounder (0.9' t), and the Atlantic mackerel 

 (0.6%) made up a small percentage of the other fish 

 eaten. On Georges Bank clupeids (3.5'f) and "Other 

 Pisces" (1.8'f) accounted for all the fish prey. Fish re- 

 mains (23.9' f) from the stomachs of red hake caught in 

 the Gulf of Maine could not be identified. 



12 



