Munidopsis (0.7%), and the mud shrimp, Calocaris 

 (O.S'Jp). Polychaetes (9.9%) were moderately important, 

 with a few identified to the genus level, such as Nephtys 

 (1.8%), Scalibregma (1.0%), and Nothria (0.6%). "Other 

 Groups" (29.8%) was the single most important cate- 

 gory contributing to the stomach contents, and this was 

 comprised of a large number of parasitic nematodes 

 (29.4%). 



Ocean pout, Macrozoarces americanus. — Ocean 

 pout preyed most heavily on echinoderms (70.7%), the 

 single most important species being the sand dollar, 

 Echinarachnius parma (56.3%). Ophiuroids (5.3%), such 

 as Ophiopholls (1.1'c) and Ophiura (0.1%), were also 

 identified in the stomach contents. Crustaceans (11.1%), 

 most notably the rock crabs of the family Cancridae 

 (2.9%), both Cancer irroratus (1.0%) and C. borealis 

 (0.7%), and a number of different amphipods (5.6%) 



were also prey items. Polychaetes (3.3%) of the genus 

 Aphrodita (3.0%) and the tunicate, Cnemidocarpa mollis 

 (1.7%), which falls into the category "Other Groups," 

 were other components of the diet. 



Geographic Comparisons 



The data on the food of the 15 species of Gadiformes 

 for each of the five geographic areas (Fig. 1) in the north- 

 west Atlantic are presented in the following text and/or 

 Tables 2-11. In this section the data are compared and 

 contrasted for each species in each of the five areas to 

 emphasize similarities and differences in food over these 

 broad geographic regions. 



Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua. — In all of the geo- 

 graphic areas fish was the major prey of Atlantic cod with 

 the Clupeidae generally being the most important (Table 



Tabic 2.— Geographic breakdown of food of Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua. in the northwest Atlantic. Data are 

 expressed as percentage weight, for fish collected during the spring and autumn bottom trawl survey cruises 

 1969-72. (+ indicates present but <0.1%.) 



