Table 52. --Stomach contents of fu 



r seals collected pelagically by the U.S.A. off California, 1966 



1/ 



Food 



Fish 

 Engraulis mordax 

 Magnisudis barysoma 

 T arletonbeania crenularis 

 Myctophum californiense 

 Cololabis saira 



Merluccius productus 



Trachipteridae 



Trachurus symmetricus 



Sciaenidae 



Sebastodes spp. 



Pleuronectidae 



Unidentified 



1/ T = trace (<5 cc). Trace counts are included in frequency counts. 



Tarletonbeania crenularis . This lanternfish 

 was found in the stomach of a seal collected 

 in lat. 350 47'N., long. 122oi6'W. Nine 

 stomachs contained T. crenularis in 1961, and 

 one in 1964. 



Myctophum ca liforniense . This lanternfish 

 v/as recorded in 1966 as fur seal food for the 

 first time. It was found in a stomach of a seal 

 collected off Monterey in lat. 36o30' N., long. 

 122017' W. 



Cololabis saira . Pacific saury is one of the 

 important food species of fur seals off Cali- 

 fornia. This species has been found in stom- 

 achs collected every year since 1958. In 1966, 

 Pacific saury (fig. C-2) ranked third in total 

 food volume (2.7 percent) and seventh in fre- 

 quency of occurrence. 



Merluccius productus . Pacific hake (fig. C-3) 

 occurred in 30 percent of the stomachs con- 

 taining food and ranked second in total food 

 volume (19.7 percent). As in past years. 

 Pacific hake were eaten by seals along the 



entire coast of California. This species has 

 been the second most important food fish taken 

 by fur seals and, like Pacific saury, has oc- 

 curred each year that seals were collected off 

 California since 1958. 



Trachipteridae. Fitch (1964) reported four 

 species of ribbonfishes in the eastern Pacific 

 Ocean. Three of these are said to be taken fre- 

 quently by sport and commercial fishermen 

 in waters off California, but members of this 

 family are of negligible importance as fur 

 seal food in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Verte- 

 bral remains of ribbonfishes were found in 

 four fur seal stomachs in 1966 (fig. C-4), one 

 in 1958, and two in 1959. 



Trachurus symmetricus . Jack mackerel have 

 occurred in stomachs of fur seals during 5 of 

 the 6 years of collections off California, but 

 its contribution to the fur seal diet is small. 

 In 1966, jack mackerel occurred in the stom- 

 ach of only one seal (collected in lat. 37°20'N., 

 long 124° 42' W.). 



65 



