Small red hake ate amphipods (mainly planktonic hyperiids) and 

 copepods (Fig. 9), whereas decapods and polychaetes were impor- 

 tant dietary items for larger U. chuss. Chaetognaths were ingested 

 by all size classes. Red hake fed on increasing numbers of increas- 

 ingly larger prey items up to a length of about 300-350 mm SL (Fig. 

 10), where the feeding strategy of U. chuss changed, with fewer 

 prey items of much larger size being consumed. 



Urophycis regia. — Spotted hake were common in the study area 

 in fall but were more abundant in summer. They were rare in the 

 colder months, and only two were captured in winter. 



Decapod crustaceans were the most important food for spotted 

 hake based on seasons for which adequate data were available (Fig. 

 11, Table 5). Fishes and amphipods were next in importance in fall 

 and summer, and the relative importance of these and other taxa of 

 food was similar during these seasons. The relative importance of 

 these taxa was different in spring samples, but this may reflect the 

 small sample size. 



Spotted hake fed on increasing numbers of decapods with 

 increasing size of the fish (Fig. 12). Numbers of fishes consumed 

 by U. regia decreased in relative abundance; however, the percent 

 volume increased, indicating that larger U. regia fed on larger 

 fishes. Amphipods decreased numerically in larger fish, and cepha- 

 lopods, while remaining constant in relative abundance, became 

 volumetrically important in the largest U. regia. Spotted hake dem- 

 onstrated a distinct change in feeding strategy at about 250 mm SL 

 (Fig. 13). The size of individual prey items increased by an order of 

 magnitude, and fewer were consumed. 



Merluccius bilinearis —Silver hake were abundant in the study 

 area at all times of the year but less so in spring. Juvenile fish 

 (< 100 mm SL) dominated the catches in fall and summer. Food 

 habits of this species varied greatly with season (Fig. 14, Table 6). 

 Amphipods were the primary food in fall, winter, and summer. 

 Fishes were second in importance in winter and summer and were 

 relatively unimportant in fall and spring. Cephalopods replaced 

 fishes as the second most important prey in spring and were also 

 quite important in fall. Decapods were third in importance in winter 

 and summer, whereas copepods and amphipods were third in fall 

 and spring, respectively. Chaetognaths were absent in the diet in 

 fall, were infrequent in winter, but were the most important prey 

 taxon in spring. They were also consumed in summer. 



The food habits of M. bilinearis changed with size (Fig. 15). 

 Amphipods were relatively numerous in all size classes except the 

 largest, but they steadily decreased in relative volume in larger fish. 

 Fishes and cephalopods were numerically dominant in larger fishes 

 and made up the bulk of food in larger silver hakes. Decapods had 

 the highest IRI in small and medium-sized fish (101-200 mm SL) 

 and chaetognaths were important for medium-sized fish. 



Silver hake fed on small food items up to a fish length of about 

 350 mm SL (Fig. 16). Average prey size increased at 351-400 mm 

 SL, and continued a sharp increase in size up to the largest fish sam- 

 pled. Average number of prey per stomach fluctuated, but reached 

 a maximum at fish lengths of 251-300 mm SL. 



Macrozoarces americanus.—The ocean pout varied greatly in 

 its relative abundance, but at times made up a significant portion of 

 the catch (Table 1). Abundances were low in fall (23 individuals), 

 winter (46 individuals), and spring (84 individuals). In summer, 

 however, juvenile ocean pout were common (397 individuals). 



Ocean pout fed mainly on amphipods and decapods (Fig. 17, 

 Table 1), which made up a large proportion of the diet at all seasons 



of the year except fall when all stomachs were empty. Polychaetes 

 were important in the diet in winter and spring but were rarely con- 

 sumed in summer. Cumaceans and pelecypods were eaten in small 

 amounts during most seasons, and echinoids were important in 

 winter. 



Smaller ocean pout consumed more amphipods than decapods, 

 and amphipods made up a large volume of the food eaten (Fig. 18). 

 Larger ocean pout fed more heavily on decapods, which made up 

 the greatest volume of food for larger fish. Although the total vol- 

 ume of food consumed did increase regularly from small to large 

 fish, the mean volume of each prey item fluctuated, as did the num- 

 ber of prey consumed (Fig. 19). 



Of the 23 ocean pout captured on the fall cruise, none had food in 

 their stomachs. Olsen and Merriman (1946) also noted a high per- 

 centage (36-75%) of empty stomachs among their fall samples. 

 They suggested that this may indicate a tendency to stop feeding 

 either during spawning or movement into rocky winter habitats. 



Stenotomus chrysops. — Scup were abundant in the study area in 

 the fall, with only a few individuals taken on other cruises (Table 

 1). Food habits analysis was limited to fall samples. 



Scup fed mainly on amphipods and polychaetes, and polychaetes 

 made up the largest volume of food (Fig. 20, Table 8). Decapods, 

 copepods, gastropods, and cumaceans were of lesser importance. 

 Numerous other taxa were infrequently consumed (Table 8). 



The food habits of scup changed with increasing fish size (Fig. 

 2 1 ). Amphipods decreased in relative abundance in larger fish, and 

 gammarideans replaced hyperideans in the diet of larger scup. 

 Polychaetes, especially the larger species (e.g., C. infnndibulifor- 

 mis), increased in abundance and became the most important food 

 in the largest fish. Copepods were mainly consumed by small scup. 

 and decapods were slightly important for all size classes. The 

 smallest scup ate large numbers of small prey, mainly amphipods 

 and copepods (Fig. 22), but scup of 101-150 mm SL fed on fewer, 

 but larger, items. Mean volume per prey item remained relatively 

 constant for fish larger than 150 mm SL, and larger scup again fed 

 on increasing numbers of food items, thus increasing the total vol- 

 ume of food consumed. 



Citharichthys arctifrons. — The Gulf Stream flounder was abun- 

 dant at all times of the year, especially summer (Table 1). Amphi- 

 pods and polychaetes were the most important prey taxa consumed 

 by this species during all seasons; however, polychaetes exceeded 

 amphipods in relative importance in the spring and were second 

 during other seasons (Fig. 23. Table 9). Several other groups were 

 consumed seasonally. Larvaceans and cumaceans were important 

 in the diet in spring. Fishes were very important in summer, and 

 copepods and ostracods were of minor importance in the fall. 



Amphipods had the highest IRI in all size classes of C. arctifrons 

 (Fig. 24). Polychaetes increased in importance in the diet of larger 

 fish, and made up the greatest volume of prey in the largest size 

 class. Copepods were important for smaller fish, whereas larger 

 fish consumed more cumaceans. Small fishes were consumed by 

 intermediate sized C. arctifrons. 



Gulf Stream flounder demonstrated a more gradual change in 

 feeding habits with size (Fig. 25). Average stomach volume, the 

 mean prey number per stomach, and mean volume per prey item 

 increased almost linearly with increasing fish length. In Gulf 

 Stream flounder there was no sudden decrease in the number of 

 prey per stomach with a corresponding large increase in average 

 prey size. Small food items (i.e.. amphipods) remain the most 

 important food for all size classes of C. arctifrons. 



