Diet of a deep-sea fish, Hoplostethus mediterraneus, from the south coast of Portugal

The beryciform fish Hoplostethus mediterraneus is a species discarded from the southern Portuguese coastal fisheries. It is taken as by-catch by deep water trawls, at depths of between 234 m and 618 m. This species is a benthopelagic feeder, preying mainly on crustaceans. The dominant prey species e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
Main Author: Pais, C.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2002
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s002531540200557x
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S002531540200557X
Description
Summary:The beryciform fish Hoplostethus mediterraneus is a species discarded from the southern Portuguese coastal fisheries. It is taken as by-catch by deep water trawls, at depths of between 234 m and 618 m. This species is a benthopelagic feeder, preying mainly on crustaceans. The dominant prey species encountered were the euphausid Meganyctiphanes norvegica and the amphipod Anilocra physodes . It seems that H. mediterraneus is an opportunistic rather than a selective feeder.