(8.8'"c). A/, valida (4.5^t), remains of iVfumda (3.1^c) that 

 could not be identified to species, and other galatheids of 

 the genus Munidopsis (1.7'c). These crabs form the ma- 

 jority of the animals in the category "Other Decajwda" 

 and were the single most important prey. Other crusta- 

 ceans of some significance were amphipods (7.3'c), espe- 

 cially the Hyperiidae (4.4' t); the rock crab, Cancer 

 irroratus (4.2''c); the Crangonidae (4.1Tc), such as 

 Crangon (3.9'~c) and Pontophilus (0.1'i); the pandalid 

 shrimp, Dichelopandalus (3.7%); and lastly, isopods 

 (2.0%), which are included in the category "Other Crus- 

 tacea." Fish constituted over one-third of the spotted 

 hake's diet, 34.2' t. Gadids (4.3'c), such as silver hake 

 (2.2''f) and red hake (2.1'c), were important prey, along 

 with the Atlantic mackerel (3.3' c). The bothid prey 

 included the Gulf Stream flounder (1.8'c), whereas the 

 only member of the Pleuronectidae identified was the 

 yellowtail flounder, Limanda ferruginea (0.5'f). Fish, 

 considered under the category "Other Pisces," that could 

 be identified were cusk-eel (family Ophidiidae) (4.4%), 

 lantemfish (family Myctophidae) (3.0'c), primarily of 

 the genus Myctophum (1.5'c), and the snake eel (0.1%). 

 The only other taxon that was of significance as prey is 

 the Mollusca (11.5'c). Within this phylum, Cepha- 

 lopoda (11.2%) was the most important class. Two 

 genera of squid were identified in the stomachs: Loligo 

 (4.2%) and Rossia (0.4%). Most of the remaining cepha- 

 lopods (6.6%) could not be identified. 



Haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus. — Haddock 

 fed on a variety of benthic invertebrates with echino- 

 derms (29.9'c) of the subclass Ophiuroidea (21.6'"c) being 

 of major importance. The brittle stars Uphiura (6.2%) 

 and Ophiopholis (5.5'c) were the two most important 

 prey items. Polychaetes, crustaceans, and fish all con- 

 tributed about equally to the diet, 17.6'c, 16.2'c, and 

 14.6%, respectively. A number of different polychaetes 

 were identified in the stomach contents, e.g., Aphrodita 

 (0.5%), Cistenidae (0.2'^c), Chone infundibulinformis 

 (0.1%), Sabella (0.1%), and Nephtys (0.1%). The single 

 most important species was Ammotrypane autogaster 

 (3.8%) which accounted for more than one-fourth of the 

 category "Other Polychaeta" (12.7'c). Amphipods 

 (6.4^c), particularly gammaridean amphipods (4.2%), 

 were the largest component of the crustacean prey. Other 

 crustaceems of importance were euphausiids (2.6'f ), such 

 aa Meganyctiphanes noruegica (1.8%), and the pandalid 

 shrimp (1.4'r), Pandalus (0.7'c) and Dichelopandalus 

 leptocerus (0.5' c ) . The importance of fish may be slightly 

 overemphasized from the present results. The Clupei- 

 dae appear to be a major food source; however, the entire 

 weight (r2.9'f) was due to the consumption of herring 

 eggs rather than adult or juvenile fish. Finally, sand and 

 rocks made up 8.7' c of the stomach contents by weight, 

 thus reflecting the haddock's benthic habits. 



Longfin hake, Phycia cheateri. — The longfin hake 

 preyed primarily on Crustacea, as this prey group made 

 up 97.6' f of the diet. However, the total quantity of prey 

 examined was relatively small (35.28 g) although it rep- 



resented 126 fish. Possibly a more extensive study of the 

 food of this fish would broaden the spectrum of prey con- 

 sumed. Nevertheless, in this study the single most im- 

 portant prey item was the euphausiid, Meganycti- 

 phones noruegica, which constituted more than half 

 (55.9' t) of the diet. The only other crustacean identified 

 to the genus level was the shrimp, Pandalus (8.6'c). 



Fourbeard reckling, Enchelyopus cimbrius. — A 



large proportion of the diet of the fourbeard rockling was 

 Crustacea (57.4' c). The primary prey species was 

 Crangon septemspinosa (40.7%). The pandalid shrimp, 

 Dichelopandalus leptocerus (9.6' c), was of secondary im- 

 portance, while euphausiids (I.O'c) and amphipods 

 (1.0%) contributed little to the diet. Polychaetes (12.5'c) 

 were also preyed upon but the only identifiable genus 

 was Ammotrypane (3.3'c). Unidentified animal remains 

 made up 30.1% of the diet. This is due to the state of di- 

 gestion of the prey and also, possibly, because of the 

 small total weight in the stomachs (14.4 g). 



Marlin-spike, Nezumia bairdi. — This summary of 

 the food of the marlin-spike is based on only 23 fish and 

 an extremely small weight (3.22 g) for the prey. The two 

 most important prey groups were the crustaceans 

 (47.3%) and polychaetes (27.5'f). The polychaete re- 

 mains could not be identified below the class level. Some 

 of the crustaceans were identifiable, such as hippiolytid 

 shrimp, Eualus pusiolus (26.0' f), which accounts for 

 most of the animals included in "Other Decapoda." 

 Mysids, Neomysis americana (4.0'c), the isopod, Ciro- 

 lina (O.e'c), and euphausiids (<0.1'c) were the other 

 crustaceans that could be identified. 



Longnose grenadier, Coelorhynchus carmin- 

 atus. — As has been described for the marlin-spike, the 

 summary of the food of longnose grenadier is based on a 

 small sample both in the number of fish analyzed and 

 the total weight of prey. It is possible that the percent- 

 age composition of the diet would differ markedly if more 

 fish were available for analysis. From the available data, 

 polychaetes and decaptod shrimp were the only identifi- 

 able prey. 



Fawn cusk-eel, Lepophidium cerrinum. — The stom- 

 ach contents of 109 fawn cusk-eel we-e examined, but the 

 total weight of the prey amounted to only 3.27 g. For this 

 reason the percentage weights listed in Table 1 should be 

 used more as a qualitative guide to the food since a small 

 change in weight could markedly influence the percent- 

 age composition of the diet. Bearing this precaution in 

 mind, the prey items are discussed below. 



The most significant prey group was the crustaceans 

 (28.8%). Within this group the "Other Crustacea" were 

 the largest contributors, primarily the isopod, Cirolina 

 (12.6%). A variety of different families of amphipods was 

 found in the stomachs, the most important being the 

 Gammaridae (4.6' 0- Other crustaceans that could be 

 identified were two members of the Crangonidae (6.4'c), 

 [Crangon (2.3%) and Sabinea (2.6%)], the munid crab. 



