Food of the Nehu — Hi ATT 
349 
TABLE 2 
Food of Nehu {Stolephorus purpureus) in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Based on an Analysis of 80 Stomachs 
ORGANISM 
PERCENTAGE 
FREQUENCY OF 
OCCURRENCE 
AMONG FISH 
EXAMINtED 
AVERAGE 
NUMBER TAKEN 
PER FISH 
CONTAINING 
THE ITEM 
PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION 
OF FOOD ITEMS BASED 
ON TOTAL NUMBER OF 
ORGANISMS FOUND 
IN THE STOMACHS 
Copepods 
adults 
79 
16 
35 
eegs 
30 
23 
19 
Shrimps 
adults 
6 
1 
TRACE 
mysis 
29 
19 
15 
zoeae 
5 
11 
1 
Barnacle larvae 
nauplii 
25 
20 
13 
cypris 
25 
7 
5 
Crab zoeae 
25 
12 
8 
Amphipods (Hyperiidae) 
11 
7 
2 
Ghost shrimps {Leucifer faxonii) 
11 
2 
1 
Isopods 
4 
2 
TRACE 
Gastropod veliger 
larvae 
1 
1 
TRACE 
Ostracods 
1 
2 
TRACE 
Stomatopod larvae 
1 
8 
TRACE 
Fish larvae 
1 
3 
TRACE 
Diatoms 
3 
4 
TRACE 
Acknowledgments: Personnel of the Hawai- 
ian Tuna Packers Corporation and commer- 
cial fishermen belonging to the Tuna Boat 
Owners Association were very helpful in 
securing samples of nehu for this study. 
Fishery biologists employed by the Territorial 
Division of Fish and Game and by the Uni- 
versity of Hawaii have been most cooperative 
in securing specimens for analysis. To all 
these individuals the writer extends his ap- 
preciation for their interest and assistance. 
ANALYSIS OF FOOD AND FEEDING HABITS 
Food organisms eaten: Reference to Figure 1 
will show certain local differences in the kinds 
and proportions of food items taken by nehu. 
Copepods — either adults, nauplii, or eggs — 
predominate in nehu taken in Kaneohe Bay, 
Pearl Harbor, and Hilo Bay, with the latter 
two areas much alike in the items and pro- 
portions thereof taken. In the remaining two 
areas, Ala Wai Canal and Honolulu Harbor, 
copepods are of little or no importance to 
nehu as food, the chief items eaten being 
ghost shrimps {Leucifer faxonii) and crab 
megalopa. In most cases the largest fish in a 
sample contained the greatest volume of food, 
and the stomachs of the characteristically 
large nehu from Ala Wai Canal and Honolulu 
Harbor were usually greatly distended, as 
compared with the rarely distended stomachs 
of smaller fish distinctive of other areas. The 
monthly distribution of food organisms 
taken in Kaneohe Bay (Table 4) and in Ala 
Wai Canal (Table 7) shows very little change 
during any period of the year in regard to the 
more important dietary items. 
A comparison of the food habits of the 
nehu with other anchovies is not very satis- 
factory because so few comparable studies 
have been made. Similar components of the 
zooplankton are taken by the Mediterranean 
anchovy, Engraulis encrasicholus (Miranda y 
Rivera, 1930), and by a Japanese engraulid. 
Coilia mystus (Suyehiro, 1942), which has an 
alimentary canal almost identical with that of 
the nehu. However, certain fundamental dif- 
ferences in the diet of other anchovies are ap- 
