Food of the Nehu — HiATT 
357 
fish from Ala Wai Canal; in Honolulu Harbor 
nehu food was mostly crab megalopa, ghost 
shrimps, and small palaemonid shrimps; 
and copepods predominated in stomach con- 
tents of nehu from Pearl Harbor and Hilo 
Bay. Very little seasonal change occurs in the 
kinds and proportions of the more important 
dietary items. 
Nehu are selective feeders in that they take 
only the crustacean elements in the plankton. 
Selection among certain crustacean types is 
apparent in some areas and is lacking in 
others. 
The characteristically larger nehu in Ala 
Wai Canal and in Honolulu Harbor show a 
predilection for large crustacean plankters and 
a virtual disregard for the more abundant 
smaller crustacean types, whereas the usually 
smaller nehu of other areas ignore the few 
large types available and consume the smaller 
forms in about the same proportions as they 
occur in the plankton. The baiting areas 
which have an abundant supply of the larger 
crustacean elements in the plankton contain 
the largest fish, while those areas which sup- 
port only a sparse population of these larger 
plankters, or none at all, contain the smallest 
fish. 
Further study on the relation of vigor to 
size and of size to food available may indi- 
cate the principles underlying the apparent 
differences in size and vigor of nehu in the 
various baiting grounds. 
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