by

• Main Author: Ray E. Bowman
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Hale; atlantic cod; Northwest Atlantic; Copepods
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.423.4548; http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/series/whlrd/whlrd7718.pdf

The stomach contents of 21 species of fish and squid were analyzed to determi ne the potenti al impact of ARGO MERCHANT oil on the fi sh stocks in the Northwest Atlantic. Important prey groups found in the stomachs of predators sampled in the region of the oil spill included gammaridean amph.i pods, polychaete worms, rock crabs and Ameri can sand 1 ance. The quanti ti es and types of foods eaten by each predator It,ere simil ar to data previously collected (Food Habits Project, NEFC, Woods Hale, r~A). Gammaridean amphipods covered with the same type of oil which was carried by the ARGO MERCHANT had previously been found in the stomachs of Atlantic cod and little skate (Langton and Bowman, 1977). Although no oil was found in their stomachs, American sand lance were found to feed on the same genera of copepods previously noted to. • be contami nated wi th ARGO ~1ERCHANT oil U~aurer, 1977). Predator-prey relationships found in this study showed that 81 percent of the predators represented ate gammaridean amphipods and 38 percent of the predators species fed on American sand lance, thus establishing two potential pathways for the