Tabic I.— Stomach contenU of 15 northuesl Allanlic gadiform Tishes, expressed as pereentage weight. 



Prey/Predaton 



Atlantic cod 



PoUock 



Silver hake White hake OflBhore hake 



Cusk 



Red hake 



19.2 

 1.4 



1.5 



0.4 

 0.2 

 12.6 

 5.3 

 1.4 

 + 



O.I 

 2.6 

 2.4 



+ 

 + 

 2.2 



+ 



+ 

 + 



14.6 



7.1 



18.9 



2.1 



78.2 



12.5 



10.7 



7.3 



1.7 



5.5 



0.9 



POLYCHAETA 1.3 0.1 0.2 0.2 



Nereidiformia 1.2 + 0.2 



Terebelliformia + — - 



Sabelliformia _ _ _ 



Other Polychaeu 0.1 + + 



CRUSTACEA 20.7 50.8 25.0 17.3 



Amphipoda 0.5 0.1 



Mysidacea 0.1 + 



Euphausiacea 2.1 35.3 



Pandalidae 2.9 2.5 



Crangonidae 0.3 + 



Axiidae 0.5 — 



Paguridae 1.7 — 



Majidae 2.1 — 



Cancridae 4.7 — 



Other Decapoda 4.4 10.4 



Other Crustacea 1.4 2.4 



MOLLUSCA 7.6 04 2.2 



Gastropoda 2.4 0.4 



Pelecypoda 4.3 + 



Cephalopoda 0.1 -t- 



Other Mollusca 0.8 + 



ECHINODERMATA 1.2 - + 



Echinoidea 0.1 — 



Ophiuroidea 0.6 — 



Other E^hinodermata 0.5 - 



PISCES 64.0 47.0 70.9 



Clupeidae 27.4 



Gadidae 3.7 



Scombridae 3.1 



Scorpaenidae 3.2 



Bothidae 0.3 - 



Pleuronectidae 2.5 — 0.1 - 



Other Pisces 23.8 24.9 30.1 46.0 



Other groups 0.4 0.5 0.1 0.1 + 



Animal remains 3.2 1.2 1.6 2.1 0.2 



Sand and rock 1.6 0.1 + + 



O.I 



0.1 



O.I 



+ 



4.3 



9.1 



0.3 



0.1 



+ 



0.3 

 2.3 

 0.8 



+ 

 + 

 2.1 



+ 



1.1 

 2.5 



1.9 



0.9 



93.4 



59.9 



33.5 



20.4 



6.8 



6.8 



71.5 



71.5 



0.2 

 0.9 

 0.2 



2.9 



0.6 



25.3 



0.1 



0.5 



0.5 

 0.4 

 0.4 



0.5 



0.1 



23.5 



0.8 

 9.6 

 0.3 



in the stomach contents. The Atlantic mackerel (7.3%) 

 was also imjxirtant prey. Manfyy of the fish in the cate- 

 gory "Other Pisces" (46''f ) were identified. Among those 

 fish that could be identified to species were the argen- 

 tine, Argentina situs (8.9'^ c); wrymouth, Cryptocan- 

 thodes maculatus (0.8%); American sand lance (0.7%); 

 and the butterfish (0.4%). Crustacea (17.3%) consti- 

 tuted most of the remainder of the diet. Of primary im- 

 portance in this group were the pandalid shrimp (9.1%) 

 of which four species have been identified, Pandalus 

 borealis (2.2%), Dichelopandalus leptocerus (0.8%), P. 

 montagui (0.5%), and P. propinquus (<0.1%). 

 Euphausiids (4.3%), such as Meganyctiphanes (2.1%) 

 and Thysanoessa inermis (0.3%), were also of some 

 dietary significance. Rock crabs of the family Cancri- 

 dae, i.e., C. borealis (0.2%) and C. irroratus (0.1%), were 

 also identified as prey. Similarly, Crangon (0.2%) was 

 identified as being of minor dietary importance. Among 

 the "Other Decapoda," the red crab, Geryon (0.9%), was 

 the most important. The only other category that con- 



tributed to the diet to any degree was cephalopods (2.1%) 

 of the genera Loligo (1.2''f ) and Rossia (0.1%). 



Offshore hake, Merluccius albidus. — Offshore hake 

 preyed most heavily on fish, which accounted for 93.4% 

 of the diet. The Gadidae contributed 59.9% of the diet by 

 weight but none of the remains in the stomachs could be 

 identified to lower than the family level. None of the fish 

 remains in the "Other Pisces" category (33.5%) could be 

 identified. Crustaceans were of secondary importance 

 (5.5%) and those that could be identified were the two 

 genera of pandalid shrimp (2.5'r), Dichelopandalus 

 leptocerus (2. 4';) and Pandalus (0.1%). Euphausiids 

 (1.1%), in paTticulsLT Meganyctiphanes norvegica (0.9%), 

 were of little dietary significance. The only other deca- 

 pod identified was the pelagic shrimp Pasiphaea (0.9%). 



Cusk, Brosme brosme. — Cusk are primarily fish 

 eaters (71.5'() but none of the prey species could be 

 identified from the digested remains found in the stom- 



