habits of Geoiges Bank haddock levealed by 

 this study was the noticeably small quantities 

 of fish in the diet. In view of the finding of 

 Homans and Needier (1944) that haddock on 

 the Nova Scotian banks feed heavily upon fish, 

 it was more or less expected that Georges 

 Bank haddock would have a somewhat similar 

 diet . The food of haddock from the Nova 

 Scotian banks was reported to consist of 53 .0 

 percent (by weight) fish, nearly all of which 

 was made up by one species, the sand launce, 

 Ammodytes americanus DeKay . In contrast 

 to this, fish made up only 1 9 percent (by 

 volume) of the diet of Georges Bank haddock, 

 and the sand launce constituted only a small 

 part of this amount. The explanation for such 

 diverse food habits of haddock on these adja- 

 cent offshore banks will not be forthcoming 

 until more information is obtained on the ben- 

 thic fauna. 



FOOD-TYPE AREAS 



Haddock collection stations were cluster- 

 ed in three more or less separate geograph- 

 ical areas of CJeorges Bank (figure 1) . From 

 stomach analyses made so far, the foods 

 eaten by haddock m each area were sufficient- 

 ly distinctive and consistent enough to warrant 

 the establishment of three food-type areas. 

 These areas and the orgamsms characteristic 

 of each are as follows: 



Georges Basinl': Parathemisto (amphipod) 

 Cuspidaria (pelecypod) 



Northeast Peak: 



Hyas (toad crab) 

 Eunice (annelid) 



Southeast Part: Echinarachnius (sand dollar) 

 Byblis (amphipod) 



These index organisms were representative of 

 the specific area either (1) because of their 

 occurrence in large quantities in haddock 

 stomachs from one particular aiea, even 

 though found in small quantities in other areas. 



or (2) because they have been encountered 

 in haddock stomachs from only one area, 

 even though present in small quantities . The 

 location and delineation of each food-type 

 area is diagrammed m figure 1 , A modifica 

 tion of these areas will no doubt be necessary 

 when the food habits of haddock inhabiting the 

 central and western parts of the bank become 

 known . 



Georges Basin 



Adjacent to the northwestern perimeter 

 of Georges Bank the ocean bottom forms a 

 channel-like depression known as Georges 

 Basin. Its depth is approximately 125 fathoms 

 and the substrate is composed mostly of gray 

 mud and sand. Food habits of haddock from 

 this area are known from the stomach analysis 

 of 1 16 specimens from 4 collection stations . 

 Mean body length of the specimens was 57 

 centimeters; mimmum and maximum length 

 were 45 and 75 centimeters, respectively. 

 Their average stomach content volume was 

 3.33 cubic centimeters. Stomach contents 

 of the Georges Basin samples are itemized 

 in table 5 . 



Georges Basin haddock ingested enor- 

 mous quantities of ophiuroids (brittle- stars). 

 Annelid worms and urochordates were taken 

 in moderately small quantities , Relatively 

 minor amounts of crustaceans, moUusks, 

 fish, and echmoderms other than the 

 Ophiuroidea were eaten by haddock in this 

 particular area . 



The food items of outstanding importance ^ 

 to the Georges Basin haddock., both in number 

 and volume, were the Ophiuroidea. They con-, 

 stituted 47.2 percent of the total volume and 

 were present in 43 percent of the specimens . 

 Species of brittle-stars most frequently en- 

 countered were: Ophiura lobusta Ayers, 

 Ophiura sarsi Lutken, and Ophiopholis 

 aculeata (Linnaeus). Other groups of echmo- 

 derms, namely, the echinoids, asteroids, 



V -Names applied to areas of Georges Bank 

 were taken from U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

 Chart numb er 71 . 



11 



