ABSTRACT 



Stomach contents of 1, 287 haddock, 

 Melanogrammu s aeglefinu s, from Georges 

 Bank were analyzed qualitatively and quan- 

 titatively. These specimens were caught 

 by means of otter trawls during the period 

 April 1953 to February 1954. 



The haddock's diet consisted principally 

 of sedentary or slow moving invertebrate 

 animals; benthic and epi-benthic forms pre- 

 dominated. Small organisms were especially 

 common in the food, presumably because the 

 haddock's rather small mouth precludes tak- 

 ing large items The percentage volume of 



food group in the diet was as 

 iisracfa - 33.1 percent; Mol- 



each major 



follows: Crustacea - oo.i percent; i\ 

 lusca - 17 5 percent; Echinodermata - 

 14 6 percent; Annelida - 9.9 percent; 

 Pisces - 1.9 percent. 



and 



Canadian biologists have reported that 

 haddock on the offshore Nova Scotian banks 

 fed predominately on fish. On Georges 

 Bank crustaceans were found to be the pri- 

 mary food; fish constituted less than 2 

 percent of the food volume . Other notable 

 differences were disclosed in the dietary 

 composition of specimens collected from 

 various parts of Georges Bank itself. 



CONTENTS 



Introduction 



Methods ......................................... 



Results .................... 



Food-type areas , 



Georges Basin 



Northeast Peak 



Southeast Part 



Evaluation of foods , . 



Seasonal variation ,.,,,,.... 



Size of food organisms ,.,..........,.,,.: 



Acknowledgments , . . 



Summary ...... :.............,...,.,.... 



Literature cited , . . . . ..,...,. 



Appendix: A list of organisms found in stomachs of 

 Georges Bank haddock during this report 

 period ......... 



Page 



1 



2 



6 

 11 

 11 

 13 

 16 

 16 

 18 

 21 

 21 

 22 

 22 



24 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Figure 1 . Collection stations and food-type areas on Georges Bank 3 



Figure 2 . Regression of body length on stomach weight 7 



Figure 3 . Composition of haddock stomach contents expressed as 



percentage volume . . 9 



Figure 4. Histograms of haddock stomach contents for each food- 

 type area , ..,..,....,.....,....., 14 



