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SQUIDS 



SEBASTODES SPP. 

 TRACHURUS SYMMETRICUS 

 MERLUCCIUS PRODUCTUS 

 COLOLABIS SAIRA 

 ENGRAULIS MORDAX 



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GASTEROSTEUS ACULEATUS 

 THALEICHTHYS PACIFICUS 

 ONCORHYNCHUS SPP 

 ENGRAULIS MORDAX 

 CLUPEA HARENGUS PALLASI 

 LAMPETRA TRIDENTATA 



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^■■occurrence 

 g^^^ volume 



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10 



20 



30 40 



PERCENT 



50 



60 



70 



Figure 4. — Percentage of stomach content volume and percentage occurrence of principal food species in fur seal 



stomachs, by area, In 1965. 



off California. Sixty-three saury formed 53 

 percent of the total volume in one stomach. 

 Lengths of four specimens ranged from 21 to 

 27 cm. 



Merluccius productus . Pacific hake occurred 

 in the stomachs of 70 fur seals collected off 

 California and 1 off Washington (fig. A-7). 

 It ranked first in total volume of food (36.7 

 percent) and second in frequency off California, 

 where it also had been a major food item in 

 past years. At times fur seals were feeding 

 mostly on hake near the Farallon Islands and 

 off Monterey, Calif.; one stomach contained 

 the remains of 31. 



Gasterosteus aculeatus . Threespine stickle- 

 backs occurred in the stomachs of seven fur 

 seals collected off Cape Flattery, Wash,, and 

 formed 5.8 percent of the total food volume. 

 The one previous occurrence in fur seal 

 stomachs was in 1959 from the same general 

 area (fig. A-6). Canadian biologists have fre- 

 quently found this species in the stomachs of 

 seals taken off Vancouver Island (North Pacific 

 Fur Seal Commission, 1964). 



Trachurus symmetricus . Jack mackerel 

 ranked fifth in volume of food (3.3 percent) off 

 California and were found in 1 5 stomachs (fig. 

 A-1). 



Sebastodes spp. Rockfish ranked fourth in 

 both volume (11.6 percent) and frequency (45) 

 off California. All rockfish from California 

 were juveniles (vertebral length from 47 to 99 

 mm.). They were most numerous in stomachs 

 from seals collected off Monterey (fig. A- 8). 

 One stomach contained 137 small rockfish. 

 Adult rockfish (according to size of vertebrae) 

 occurred once in the stomach of a fur seal 

 collected off Washington. 



Anoplopoma fimbria . Sablefish were found 

 in three fur seals collected off California and 

 one off Washington (fig. A- 8). They have been 



a minor food of seals off California and Wash- 

 ington (North Pacific Fur Seal Commission, 

 1964; Fiscus and Kajimura, 1965). 



Pleuronectidae. Flatfish of this family were 

 in two seals collected off California (fig. A-6). 



Tremoctopus sp. The remains of a small 

 pelagic octopus was in the stomach of a seal 

 collected off California in lat. 38 00' N., long. 

 124° 35' W. (fig. A-6). This octopus was found 

 in the stomachs of 28 seals collected south of 

 Pt, Sur, Calif, in 1961.' 



Squids, Squids are one of the main foods of 

 fur seals in the eastern North Pacific. They 

 ranked first in frequency of occurrence off 

 both California (196) and Washington (26); and 

 second in total food volume off California 

 (28.2 percent) and eighth off Washington (0.2 

 percent). Squid bodies are easily digested by 

 fur seals. Squid beaks and pens, which are not 

 digested and remain in the stomachs long after 

 the bodies are digested, are listed as trace 

 amounts when no body fragments remain. 



The following squids from fur seal stomachs 

 were identified: Loligo opalescens , Onycho- 

 teuthis banksii, Moroteuthis robusta , Abraliop- 

 sis sp., Gonatus fabricii , G. magister , and 

 Gonatopsis borealis (figs. A-1 to A-5). 



L. opalescens ranked first in frequency of 

 occurrence and second in total volume of food 

 off California (first in total volume among 

 squids). Most of these squids were found in 

 the stomachs of seals collected off Monterey, 

 the Farallon Islands, and Pt. Reyes, Calif.; 

 it ranked first in frequency of occurrence off 

 Washington. 



O. banksii occurred in the stomachs of 49 

 seals collected off California and ranked second 

 in importance among squids. One stomach 

 contained the remains of eight squids. 



' See footnote 7. 



12 



